firehouse primary
n.— «In most caucuses, voters debate party platform resolutions, elect local party committee members and then divide into groups according to their Presidential preference. The only item on the Michigan caucus agenda, however, is the Presidential voting, and in that sense, it more resembles a primary than a caucus. “It’s a firehouse primary disguised as a caucus,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “It’s legal even though it’s unfair.”» —“Mondale Is Victor In Michigan Vote; Also In Arkansas” by Phil Gailey New York Times Mar. 18, 1984. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
David from Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a former truck driver who remembers that his fellow users of CB radio tended to sound similar, no matter what part of the country they were from. Is there such a thing as an occupational accent? Many of those truck...
Katie in Kalamazoo, Michigan, wonders about the expression throw the book at, meaning to “try every means possible.” Did it originally involve literally throwing books? It’s just a metaphor in which the book refers to “the...