alpha roll
n.— «During Cole’s testimony, Jones’ attorney, Jack O’Hale, showed a video of a Baltimore police canine officer performing a technique called an “alpha roll.” The video shows the officer slamming a police dog on its back and then straddling it, and staring the dog in the eye. The intent is for the dog to realize that the officer is the boss.» —“Testimony continues in trooper dog kicking case” by Dan Kane News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) Apr .29, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In Cockney rhyming slang, apples and pears is a synonym for “stairs,” and dustbin lids means kids. Plus, sniglets are clever coinages for things we don’t already have words for. Any guesses what incogsneeto means? It’s the...
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...