pigeon
n.— «Forty years ago AA was difficult to find and in some cities it was necessary to locate a minister or doctor who had personal knowledge of a member in order to connect. When found, the members were confrontational. They would make great sacrifices to help a member stay sober but there was great concern that the alcoholic had personally requested help and was not just responding to the urging of others. There was lots of talk about whether the perspective member had “hit bottom.” No effort was made to attract members and new members, “pigeons” as they were called, were encouraged (sometimes bluntly) to sit quietly and listen.» —“Alcoholics Anonymous” by Al Cronkrite Ether Zone July 20, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to describe how she feels about her age. And: a linguist helps solve a famous kidnapping case, using the...