rat
n.— «The measure was a “rat,” which, in legislative parlance, is a favor-bestowing amendment that supporters sneak through when (wink, wink, nod, nod) no one is looking.» —“Legislative Stalling Becomes A Matter Of Degrees” by Michele Jacklin Hartford Courant (Conn.) May 26, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words drift and drive both come from the same Germanic root that means “to push along.” By the 16th century, the English word drift had come to mean “something that a person is driving at,” or in other words, their purpose or intent. The phrase...
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a word-pecker is “a person who trifles or plays with, or quibbles over, words.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word-Peckers” I always love it when I’m looking through the dictionary and...