rubber room
n.— «Upset that hundreds of educators awaiting disciplinary hearings are paid to sit and do nothing in so-called “rubber rooms,” Interim Schools Chancellor Harold Levy said yesterday that he’ll put them to work and close the hundreds of rooms throughout the school system.» —“Levy Focuses on ‘Rubber Rooms’” by Liz Willen Newsday (Long Island, New York) Apr. 27, 2000. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the high seas. Today it refers to hijacking a piece of legislation. Plus, the language of yoga teachers: When doing a guided meditation, you may hear...
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...