1) You'll also hear this phrased as "hanging onto the tail." A lot of guys (not all) moving to the regionals are jumping from somthing like a Seminole to a Regional Jet, a much faster airplane. Things can happen very fast at times, and they may not be used to it. So you get overwhelmed, and the airplane just leaves you behind while you hold on to the tail as much as you can.

2) Initial Operating Experiences - When you pass your sim checkride, you don't get thrown onto the line. You'll fly with a check airman (training capt) for 25-40 hours flying normal flights. Once done with IOE, you'll be thrown out to the wolves.

Hope that helps