manu militari
n.— «Le Pen, 78, was first out of the box. During a candidates’ forum last week in Paris organized by Elle magazine, Le Pen, who describes himself as antiabortion, said he opposed the free distribution of condoms in schools. Instead, “for those who feel the urge, I suggest the manu militari,” he said, using a Latin phrase as a euphemism for masturbation. “It’s a much simpler method.”» —“In French Campaign, A Flurry of Faux Pas” by John Ward Anderson Washington Post Apr. 12, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Emily in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is married to a native Dutch speaker, who points out that they buy groceries in a store, so why doesn’t grocery denote just one of those items and not the store where they’re sold? Originally, the French...
Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within ten miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words are useful for far more, like applying for a job or...