play dead
v. phr.— «Still more fiendish is the strategy of “playing dead,” again supposedly being employed by the Conservatives. According to a series of pundits, Conservative leader Michael Howard has avoided saying directly in recent days that his party can defeat Blair’s Labour Party, the current clear favourites. By creating an atmosphere in which a Labour landslide is presumed, the theory goes, many Labour supporters will stay at home or lodge a protest vote against Blair, perhaps allowing the Conservatives to sneak a narrow win, the infamous “back door victory.”» —“British elections a treat for political linguists” by Peter Walker in London, England Sify (India) Apr. 28, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...
There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little seven-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding — and all in Latin. A new book argues that this rigorous curriculum actually nurtured the creativity that later flourished...