Motown sweep
n.— «That move you wrote about today where drivers exit from the left lane has a name. It’s called “the Motown Sweep.” I’m not sure who coined the phrase, but I originally heard about it from one of my professors at Wayne State University in the 1980s. He explained that it was most prevalent on I-94 for whatever reason. I think it’s been an epidemic for a long time. By any name it’s pure idiocy.» —“Readers rage about idiocy on freeways” by Matt Helms Detroie Free Press (Michigan) Sept. 7, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
David from Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a former truck driver who remembers that his fellow users of CB radio tended to sound similar, no matter what part of the country they were from. Is there such a thing as an occupational accent? Many of those truck...