regimental amnesia
n.— «Military cases, he acknowledges, bring special problems: the “appalling and needless death of Baha Musa” had exposed the issue of “what is known as regimental amnesia,” in which witnesses were inclined to forget where their loyalty lay when it came to giving evidence, forgetting it was to the “truth of the situation.”» —“Bruce Houlder, QC, the top criminal silk taking on the Armed Forces” by Frances Gibb Times (London, England, United Kingdom) Jan. 8, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Although some people assume that bumbershoot is a Briticism for “umbrella,” this term actually originated in the U.S. It’s likely a combination of umbrella and parachute. A parachute, like an umbrella, is a canopy of silk or silk-like material. This...
If you vouch for something, you guarantee that what you’re saying is true. In the early 14th century, vouch was a transitive verb that meant “to summon into court to prove a title.” Vouch was adapted into English from an Old French word meaning “to...