goat-rope
n.— «It remains to be seen if this will be a real investigation, or just a C.Y.A. goat-rope.» —“Re: Laser Focus on Economy” by wdh@grouper.mkt.csd.harris.com (W. David Higgins) Usenet: alt.president.clinton May 18, 1993. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
How do social media algorithms shape the way we communicate? A new book argues that the competition for clicks is changing the way we speak and write, from the so-called “YouTube accent” to the surprising evolution of the word preppy. Also: A...