belly button
n.— «We’re putting a 10-day time period on any changes we want from the time—the ambassador wants to reallocate money, put it toward a project. The turn-around for our entire bureacracy is 10 days. I’m the belly button in charge, so you’ll have somebody to point to.» —“Testimony as Delivered to the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Transition in Iraq” by Richard Armitage in United States Department of Defense DefenseLINK News June 25, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...
Some TV commercials launch catchphrases that stick around long after the original ads. The exclamation Good stuff, Maynard! is still a compliment almost 40 years after it was used in a commercial for Malt-O-Meal hot cereal. And: what do you call...