dog whistle politics
n.— «Labor’s spokesman on aboriginal affairs has already accused Mr Howard of “dog-whistle politics”—in rejecting a race election, he actually sent a high-pitched signal to those attuned to hear it.» —“Election Fight On Race Issue” The Dominion (New Zealand) Dec. 16, 1997. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
Ron in Gloverville, South Carolina, wonders about the phrase since hatchet was hammer, which some use to mean “for a long period of time,” as in My family has lived here since hatchet was hammer. Another phrase he’s heard indicating the same thing...