meat tag
n.— «A few blocks down Lejeune Boulevard, Josef McDonald’s tattoo parlor had one customer. The business slowdown followed a flurry earlier in the week from departing Marines wanting “meat tags”—tattoos of their names, social security numbers and blood types inscribed on their left arms. “Nobody wants to be buried in an unmarked grave,” Mr. McDonald said.» —“Gulf crisis hitting home across state Towns feel impact of troop deployments” by Dudley Price, Wade Rawlins News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) Aug. 19, 1990. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Ilima in Vancouver, Canada, reports not everyone understands when she tells them she’s vegetarian. Some people assume, for example, that she doesn’t eat red meat but may enjoy chicken. Part of the issue may involve what linguists call prototype...
Ever wonder what medieval England looked and sounded like? In Old English, the word hord meant “treasure” and your wordhord was the treasure of words locked up inside you. A delightful new book uses the language of that period to create...