oil spot strategy n. a tactic in which a political or military organization secures an area to be used as a launch site for campaigns to other areas. Also oil spot theory. Editorial Note: Also known as the ink blot strategy. The French version of oil spot strategy, tache d’huile, was used in Indochina prior to 1895 by Joseph-Simon Gallieni, according to The French Overseas Empire (2000, Praeger Publishers) by Frederick Quinn. The French term was also used in English at least as far back as 1864 in a more general political context as a metaphor for something that spreads. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distribute used dictionaries to help inmates with...
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...