ghost soldier
n.— «Butler is not out of the army officially, but he is morally and mentally. He is a thing apart. He will be a “ghost” soldier, more dead in army circles than any who fell in Flanders field.» —“Convicted But Not Dishonored” Helena Independent (Mont.) Apr. 21, 1926. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
David says that when he was growing up in Akron, Ohio, his family referred to the grassy area between the sidewalk and street as the devil strip. He’s since moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he doesn’t hear that term. There are lots...