public service murder
n.— «The former dean of the Brooklyn Law School sounded like an overworked detective who speaks of “public service murders” bad guys killing bad guys.» —“Bad Judgment On Mafia Big” by Mark Kriegel N.Y. Daily News Apr. 15, 1998. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words cushy, cheeky, and non-starter all began as Britishisms, then hopped across the pond to the United States. A new book examines what happens when British words and phrases migrate into American English. Also, if you speak a language besides...
Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, such as the powers that be and bottomless pit, which both first appeared in scripture. • There’s a term for when the...