heckler’s veto
n.— «In a letter to Mr. Koch, Dorothy J. Samuels, the Civil Liberties Union official, said that “to allow this kind of “heckler’s veto’ bodes poorly for the free exchange of diverse and sometimes unpopular viewpoints in this City.”» —“Rugby Decision Criticized” New York Times Aug. 12, 1981. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the high seas. Today it refers to hijacking a piece of legislation. Plus, the language of yoga teachers: When doing a guided meditation, you may hear...
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...