exploding contract
n.— «The Peel Board of Education has the worst record in Ontario for giving young teachers what are called exploding contracts—new teachers are forced to sign letters of resignation at the same time as they sign contracts. That way, the board does not have to fire anyone; they already have dozens of resignations they can use instead.» —“Why the teachers are on strike against Peel board” by Marion Piroth de Man, Barry Johnson in Mississauga, Ontario Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) Oct. 13, 1979. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Daniel Mendelsohn is a widely acclaimed author, critic, classicist, and professor at Bard College. A few years ago, when he was teaching an undergraduate seminar on The Odyssey (Bookshop|Amazon) his 81-year-old father, Jay, decided to sit in on the...
Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...