brownout
n.— «The San Francisco Fire Department, with the OK of Mayor Gavin Newsom, has been taking certain engines and trucks out of service on a rotating basis since last summer. The “brownouts,” as they’re called, save money on staffing costs. If there aren’t enough people to staff the rigs on regular duty, brownouts are enacted to reduce the need to call firefighters in on costly overtime.» —“Firefighters hot about brownouts” by Rachel Gordon San Francisco Chronicle Mar. 11, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...