backdoor draft
n.— «That’s a draft…a backdoor draft. That’s compulsory military service…against the individual’s will.» —“Uncle Sam still wants them” by Bettijane Levine Orlando Sentinel (Florida) Nov. 5, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...
Julie in Fort Pierce, Florida, recalls that on sweltering days her mother would declare the weather was hotter than Billy Blue Blazes! The word blazes is a euphemism for “hell,” as in hot as blazes. The blue in blue blazes has long been used as an...