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
Amid a 1796 heat wave, Jane Austen wrote to her sister, “What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Jane Austen’s Continual State of Inelegance in a...
Nancy Gabriel from Ithaca, New York, recalls her father’s no-nonsense responses to minor injuries when she was a child: After making sure she was really all right, he’d say, It’s far enough from your heart; it won’t kill you. Other times he...