battle rattle
n.— «The main gate, which previously was manned by a Swedish soldier in a ribbed turtleneck, camouflage pants and felt beret, was secured by at least six American paratroopers and military police in full combat regalia, heavy body armor and helmets—battle rattle, as they call it.» —“NATO brings fresh mandate to Bosnia” by Indira A.R. Lakshmanan in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina Boston Globe Dec. 21, 1995. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
How do social media algorithms shape the way we communicate? A new book argues that the competition for clicks is changing the way we speak and write, from the so-called “YouTube accent” to the surprising evolution of the word preppy. Also: A...