bullet catcher
n.— «We don’t like to use the term “bodyguard.”…t’s an antiquated term and you have a picture of a muscle-bound guy in an ill-fitting suit who is sort of lumbering in the background. We have a term for those types: We call them “bullet catchers.” They’re just there to look intimidating. We’re trying to dispel that myth. Our guys blend in.» —“Standing guard for rich and famous” by Billy Baker Boston Globe (Massachusetts) Feb. 25, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Holly from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, is curious about her mother’s use of the phrase Maybe she isn’t pretty to indicate that someone was very pretty indeed. It may be a form of litotes, or ironic negation, as in the case of not bad, which...
Meg in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, gets why the state highway department encourages drivers to use their blinkers when changing lanes, but placing a digital sign at the Sagamore Bridge that reads Use Ya Blinkah is, well, a lexical bridge too far. Meg’s...