Bent Spear
n.— «At least five U.S. Air Force commanders are facing criminal charges for allowing armed nuclear cruise missiles to be flown across America.…The incident sparked a so-called “Bent Spear” nuclear alert, one step down in military terms from a “Broken Arrow.” A “Broken Arrow” is triggered if a nuclear missile has been lost or detonated in a way that does not create the risk of nuclear war.» —“Air chiefs face court after ARMED nuclear missiles were flown across U.S.” by Barry Wigmore Daily Mail (United Kingdom) Oct. 19, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A Louisiana listener shares a favorite passage from Laurie Lee’s memoir Cider with Rosie (Bookshop|Amazon), about his boyhood in post-World-War II England. An extract is here and contains the passage:“For the first time in my life I was out of the...
When there’s no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? Some people apply acronyms like YOYO — “you’re on your own” — or CORN, for “Clean Out your Refrigerator...