Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am going to go ahead and annouce a new winner even though there were only three inputs for an entire weekend (someone else can decide on whether or not to continue it).
The Phrase was: "Damn straight, I made it by the skin of my teeth"
Damn straight (interjection)- a phrase indicating approval, excitement, or support; right on. Also damn skippy.
by the skin of my teeth: if you do something by the skin of your teeth, you only just succeed in doing it (I was surprised to find that this originates from the Bible).
And the winner is:
Despite his not knowing the difference between a gnu and a buffalo, but making me laugh with his corny "transcend dental medication" joke, is LES
Congrats Les