desk per diem
n.— «For most of the year, senators and Assembly members are eligible to receive $162 per day on top of their annual base salary, which rises from $113,000 to $116,000 in December. This “desk” per diem, as it’s called, is designed to cover the cost of keeping a second home in Sacramento. Unless lawmakers have an unexcused absence, they typically receive it every day the Legislature works.» —“Fruits of the battle: extra pay for Senate” by Brian Joseph in Sacramento Orange County Register (California) Aug. 9, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Aaron in Los Angeles, California, notes while using public transit in Britain he and other passengers were instructed to alight from the front, meaning “exit the car from the front.” Alight comes from an Old English word alihtan, literally, to...
While reading Dean Koontz’s book The House at the End of the World (Bookshop|Amazon), a listener in Ramona, California, encountered the perfect word for the walks he takes with his dog. He now refers to such an excursion as a sniffari. This is...