field show-up
n.— «With closing arguments set to begin today, the case against 10 Long Beach youths accused of beating three white women Halloween night hinges almost entirely on identifications made in a Ralphs parking lot the night of the attack. In a procedure known as a field show-up, police told the victims and a reputed witness that the youths—nine girls and a boy, ages 12 to 17—were suspects and asked if they recognized them from the melee.» —“Key tactic in hate-crime case assailed” by Joe Mozingo Los Angeles Times Jan. 17, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Have you heard of carspreading? It’s like manspreading but for vehicles, cars that take up more and more space and refuse to yield. The term is gaining traction in urban planning circles, particularly in Europe, where studies show new cars are...
What’s up with ketchup? The shifting history and spelling of the name of this condiment. For centuries, ketchup was a fishy sauce originating in Asia—the tomatoes came only later! Plus, a new book shows what’s lost when a language dies: when there...