cash for keys
n.— «The celebration started early Saturday, with poolside music and drinks, as partygoers passed around business cards and compared notes on successful techniques for evicting residents who try to stay in bank-owned property, a process they call “cash for keys.”» —“Homeowners’ Hard Times Are Good for the Foreclosure Business” by Eric Lipton in Palm Desert, California New York Times Apr. 6, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Whether it’s a Rubik’s cube or a round of Wordle, why do so many of us find puzzles irresistible? A new book celebrates the allure and psychological benefits of brain teasers. Plus, powerful language for talking about the chronic...
Paul in Tucson, Arizona, asks about ragamuffin, a word his mother used for someone with ripped, dirty, or disheveled clothes. The word’s history isn’t entirely clear, but hundreds of years ago ragman and ragamuffin referred to the Devil, possibly...