air-dropping
n.— «Obey originally said House earmarks would be kept secret until they were inserted into the conference bill. By then, members cannot change them and can only vote up or down on the bill. Since the passage of earmarks is then all but a done deal, critics refer to it as “air-dropping.”…The “air-dropping” plans elicited howls that Democrats were reverting to the same cloak-and-dagger process that typified the practices of Cunningham and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who once referred to earmark-laden appropriations bills as “favor factories.”» —“Obey shines light on earmarking process, but GOP”ˆlabels move a hollow gesture” by Mike Soraghan, Jackie Kucinich The Hill (Washington, D.C.) June 12, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1916, a small-town newspaper in Pennsylvania printed a fanciful item about a local gathering with a guest list that included, among others, Miss Ella Vader, Mr. Ray Zor, and other punny names. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Aaron in Los Angeles, California, notes while using public transit in Britain he and other passengers were instructed to alight from the front, meaning “exit the car from the front.” Alight comes from an Old English word alihtan, literally, to...