creeping crud
n.— «Ms. Camp charged that this “creeping crud of a policy” is having a negative effect on women’s health, child health care programs and other health operations.» —“Population Fund Cut May Increase Abortions, Maternal Deaths” by Randolph E. Schmid in Washington, D.C. Associated Press Nov. 12, 1987. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Martha from Tallahassee, Florida, remembers hearing older relatives announce they were going for their constitutional, a term that traces back to Latin constitutio, meaning “character,” “disposition,” “nature,” or “the essence of a thing.” Its...
While studying psychology in West Lafayette, Indiana, Sarah wondered whether it’s correct to speak of a treatment’s efficacy or its effectiveness. Usually, in research and professional settings, efficacy describes how well a treatment works under...