barbecue stopper
n.— «Although more than seven years have passed since their deaths, the Claremont serial killer case has often been a barbecue stopper. A mixture of fear and fascination fuelled by media updates on any developments in the case has ensured this.» —“Police defend Macro” by Luke Morfesse The West Australian Dec. 3, 2003. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...
Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means “money.” In the same way, cat beer isn’t alcoholic — some people use cat beer as a joking term for “milk.” And imagine walking on a...