pea shake
n.— «When multiple claims are made for one horse, the winner is decided by lot, with the clerk of scales and the track’s claiming agent as witnesses. The drawing procedure is called shaking the peas. When a horseman attempts to arrange a protected claim by have accomplices place claims, he is stacking the odds in his favor if multiple claims are made and the decision on horse ownership is made by the pea shake.» —“Four Are Suspended For ‘Protected Claim’” by Don Lee Omaha World-Herald (Nebraska) Aug. 24, 1983. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
C’mere—the quick, reduced version of Come here—is an example of what linguists call an allegro form, a sped-up, casual pronunciation or spelling created through phonetic reduction. The lento form, in contrast, is the longer version. In musical...
How do social media algorithms shape the way we communicate? A new book argues that the competition for clicks is changing the way we speak and write, from the so-called “YouTube accent” to the surprising evolution of the word preppy. Also: A...