limón verde
n. — «Border Patrol agents routinely monitor the main roads near her house on the outskirts of this sprawling city in south-central Texas, so Verónica and her friends and relatives have informal alert networks in place. “My husband just called to tell me he saw them right now on the street,” she said, clicking shut her cellphone, before leaving the house. Spanish-language radio also does its part; “limones verdes”—or green limes—“are sprouting” near the highway, an announcer warns over the radio, using shorthand for the agents’ green uniforms.» —“Fear and Hope in Immigrant’s Furtive Existence” by Lizette Alvarez in San Antonio, Texas New York Times Dec. 20, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A kerfuffle is a fuss, bother, or disturbance. It’s from Scots curfuffle, likely from Scottish Gaelic car, meaning “turn,” “bend,” or “twist,” plus fuffle, a Scots word that means “to disorder” or “to ruffle.” Early forms like carfuffle and...
The admonition Don’t Mess with Texas may sound like a tough guy’s warning, but it started out as an anti-littering slogan more than 40 years ago. In the 1980s, the Texas Department of Transportation launched the campaign to cut roadside litter that...