chemical cosh
n.— «These drugs can make people more manageable and less demanding. They have been implicated in the torture of prisoners in Soviet psychiatric prisons. Allegations concerning their use as the “chemical cosh” continues to emerge from British prisons. Most worrying of all, perhaps, is their routine use for the management and control of people with mental handicaps.» —“Society Tomorrow: When short term tranquility turns to lasting tyranny” by Ron Lacey Guardian (United Kingdom) Mar. 20, 1985. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1916, a small-town newspaper in Pennsylvania printed a fanciful item about a local gathering with a guest list that included, among others, Miss Ella Vader, Mr. Ray Zor, and other punny names. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Leonor from Dallas, Texas, says that when she was a child, her Spanish-speaking mother and grandmother used to her after a bump or scrape with Sana, sana, colita de rana, Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana , literally, “Heal, heal, little frog’s tail...