lane

lane
 n.— «The man at the center of the growing furor over the National Security Agency’s surveillance of Americans’ domestic phone calls, Gen. Michael Hayden, is an Air Force officer who never flew a fighter jet or dropped a bomb. He rose through the ranks by, in Pentagon parlance, staying in his lane.» —“Domestic surveillance concerns shine light on Hayden’s low profile” by Stephen J. Hedges Duluth News Tribune (Minnesota) May 13, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

Mischief Night (episode #1684)

What’s up with ketchup? The shifting history and spelling of the name of this condiment. For centuries, ketchup was a fishy sauce originating in Asia—the tomatoes came only later! Plus, a new book shows what’s lost when a language dies: when there...

The Republic of Unicornia

Martha shares a funny story about her five-year-old great-niece, who misunderstood the name of her adopted home state, California. Then again, Unicornia does have a nice ring to it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The...