rat
n.— «A rat, in the parlance of Connecticut state legislators, is a bill or an amendment slipped in quietly to favor a friend or a special interest. Two Hartford City Council members recently schemed to sneak through a rat. They had the audacity to think they could get away with it.» —“While the cats were away…” Hartford Courant (Conn.) Oct. 20, 1998. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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...
In 1916, a small-town newspaper in Pennsylvania printed a fanciful item about a local gathering with a guest list that included, among others, Miss Ella Vader, Mr. Ray Zor, and other punny names. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...