elephant cage
n.— «The 6,000 U.S. servicemen and women stationed at Misawa Air Base spend a lot of time thinking about North Korea. Eavesdroppers in a top-secret listening post at the base likely target the Stalinist nation with their gigantic antenna, a circular fencelike structure nicknamed the elephant cage.» —“Pacific Military Security Grows More Cooperative” Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) Nov. 15, 1993. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s latest side gig is writing anthems for nations that exist only in his imagi-Nation. For example, what “nation” might celebrate itself with the following stanza? In mathematics, it’s an arrangement of elements into various...
Deb in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, says that when her mother was disappointed or annoyed she’d say Wouldn’t that just cork you? The idea here is that in the same way that a cork that stops up a bottle, an unexpected or irritating event metaphorically...