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
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a word-pecker is “a person who trifles or plays with, or quibbles over, words.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word-Peckers” I always love it when I’m looking through the dictionary and...
Responding to our conversation about the word chat, meaning “the gravelly residue of mines,” Isabella from Marquette, Michigan, reports that where she lives, in the state’s Upper Peninsula, such runoff is commonly called slag. She uses some made-up...