black spider memo
n.— «The notes, mostly hand-written, are known to recipients as the “black spider” memos in which Charles enthusiastically details his beliefs on particular political topics, using lots of underlining and exclamation marks. His aides have strongly defended his right to correspond with ministers, asserting that it is “part of his role” as King-in-waiting to represent to the Government views that might otherwise not be heard.» —“Ministers bombarded by his ‘black spider’ memos” by George Jones, Brendan Carlin Telegraph (U.K.) Feb. 22, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don’t want you tipping over a hot beverage. Originally, the tea here was the letter T, as in “truth.” To spill the T means to “pass along truthful information.” Plus...
Nate in Tucson, Arizona, says his grandmother from Nova Scotia used to express surprise with the exclamation dear me suz! It goes back to the 1820s and is likely a form of dear me, sirs! Variants include suz alive, law me suz, oh suz alive, and law...