fast lane/track, in/on the

An exciting, competitive, high-pressure activ- ity or life-style. Alluding to the express lane of highways and (originally) rail- road lines, this metaphor originated about the middle of the twentieth century and may refer not only to hectic high-pressure activity but also to rapid advancement. Richard M. Nixon used it in 1965: “New York . . . is a place where you can’t slow down—a fast track” (New York Times Magazine).