big mother
n.— «Later, looking through the transcribed notes of the interview, I note two phrases used by the Premier: “big brother federal Government” and “big mother central Canada” (at least he has kept it familial). His comments belie a genuine resentment toward the central authority.» —“Genuine suspicion of the central axis” by Barbara Yaffe Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) July 17, 1980. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
Unparalleled misalignments are pairs of phrases in which the words in one phrase are each synonyms of the words in the other, but the phrases themselves mean different things. For example, the phrase blanket statement can be paired with cover story...