half-pregnant
adj.— «The resolution on North Korea belongs to a new set of UN decisions that diplomats refer to as “half-pregnant.” These, though impressive on paper, are subject to “ifs and buts” that render them useless in practice.» —“Eye of the Storm: Security Council to Iran: Go for it” by Amir Taheri Jerusalem Post (Israel) Oct. 19, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the vocabulary of the early 20th century? It may be jarring to hear the word swag, but it was already at...
In Korea, fairy tales often begin with the saying In the old days, when tigers used to smoke. Turkish children often hear an opening like this one: Once there was, once there was not, when camels were town criers and fleas were barbers, when I...