package
n.— «It rankles, however, that he was not able to have the inmates recognised as people. Mr Errachidi said: “Even the name detainee was not given to us. We were called packages because we were in identical jumpsuits and wrapped up in chains. Two guards would escort you everywhere, they would radio their control room and say, ’Package has been picked up’ and outside the interrogation room they would contact the interrogator and say, ’Package is at the door.’ If you ask why you are called a package, why you can’t be called a person they say, ’This is the procedure.’” The same procedures forbid the guards from telling the inmates what day or month it is.» —“The London chef who was forsaken for five years in Guantanamo” by Sean O’Neill Times (London, England) June 16, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Joan from Buffalo, New York, wants to know how to spell a particular word that means to spiff up, clean up, straighten, or fix. The word is zhuzh, which has had dozens of different spellings over the years because it’s primarily transmitted...
The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time better spent studying other things? A handwritten note and a typed one may use the very same words...