idiomsmeaning-in-context
From Programmer Q&A website, I came across the following line, which was a reply/answer to the question Design Patterns: Should I learn them?:
It depends on how disciplined you are as to whether you will apply the
patterns once learned correctly, and not go nuts like the proverbial
man with a hammer
What does "proverbial man with a hammer" mean in this context? Is it an idiom?
In the context you provide, the words fast pace could be used in place of clip.
During his first term, India's economy reached a fast pace of 9.6% growth.
I can see how this would be a difficult one to figure out from the dictionary. NOAD has two entries for clip, with several diverse meanings listed. In the Time article, clip is being used as a noun, in the sense of Meaning 3:
To answer your question directly: no, it's not being used as an idiom, it's just a set of words.
Incidentally, in your other cited examples (i.e., a Clip of Reality (from YouTube) or a clip of the performance), that would be an example of the first bullet under Meaning #1, referring to a video clip, (or, in the latter case, perhaps an audio clip).
It would be acceptable any place that idioms are usually acceptable, which is to say it is slightly informal but not very informal. It would be ok in magazine writing -- think Slate or Rolling Stone -- but not in academic writing, hard news (i.e., newspaper articles reporting news), and the like.
Best Answer
Proverbial means “referred to in a proverb or idiom”. The proverb referred to here is “To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail” (variants include “He that is good with a hammer tends to think everything is a nail”). The overall meaning is you should not get so fond of a given tool (programming language, or pattern) that you use it exclusively, regardless of whether it is fit for the job at hand.