blue-state tax
n.— «Democratic leaders in Congress are vowing to make the alternative minimum tax a centerpiece of next year’s budget debate, saying the levy threatens to unfairly increase tax bills for millions of middle-class families by the end of the decade.…The focus on the tax is hardly surprising, given that victims of the tax have been concentrated in high-cost urban areas such as Washington, New York, and San Francisco—places that tend to vote Democratic. Rangel, Hoyer, and Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, the minority leader, all represent states hit hard by the tax, which is sometimes called the “blue-state tax.” To map states with the highest concentrations of such taxpayers is to draw bull’s-eyes over California and the Northeastern seaboard» —“Democrats target alternative minimum tax” by Lori Montgomery Boston Globe (Massachusetts) Nov. 11, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...
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...