garbage time
n.—Gloss: in American sports, “garbage time” refers to the remaining minutes of a game whose outcome is already apparent. «He is trailing in the polls. His numbers are static. Unless he does something now, right now, his January campaign will be the functional equivalent of what the sportscasters brutally refer to as “garbage time.” He will be prattling on about the importance of “public service” and “doing for others” and all those other themes that politicians strike when they are about to get rolled.» —“On Faith: Georgetown Blog; The God Vote: McCain’s Move: Deplorable But Effective” by Jacques Berlinerblau Washingtonpost.com Oct. 4, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks stroll the surface searching for objects that have found their way into the river over the centuries, everything from ancient Roman jewelry to modern...
Aubrey in Waco, Texas, says her mother used to warn the kids against contracting honkus of the bonkus, a fanciful name for a contagious disease. This colloquial term probably comes from the words bonk and konk, meaning “to hit” or...