combat fashion
n.— «Just after dawn, more than 75 police cars race to Times Square, lights flashing, then converge in what’s called “combat fashion.” Each backs halfway onto the sidewalk in a daunting show of municipal muscle and readiness.» —“How New York City fights terror now” by Alexandra Marks Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts) Sept. 11, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In Cockney rhyming slang, apples and pears is a synonym for “stairs,” and dustbin lids means kids. Plus, sniglets are clever coinages for things we don’t already have words for. Any guesses what incogsneeto means? It’s the...
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...