black whistle
n.— «Yang Zuwu, general manager of the Premier League side Beijing Hyundai, said that “faked matches, black whistles, betting on games and other ugly phenomena” were increasing, the Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. “Black whistles” is slang for corrupt referees.» —“Beijing coach cries foul over referees” in Beijing, China International Herald Tribune Oct. 5, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Chase from Jacksonville, Florida, grew up in Sacramento, California, where kids played Rochambeau instead of rock, paper, scissors. Why the difference in names? Nobody knows. Folklorists call this a choosing game, and while the hand-game itself...
A listener who grew up in Newfoundland remembers her grandfather declaring the fog was thick as burgoo. Turns out burgoo was sailors’ slang for a gray, gelatinous oatmeal—exactly the right image for an impenetrable Newfoundland fog. The word appears...