Saturday night massacre
n.— «When Gonzales’s Department of Justice fired eight US Attorneys, the process was done as usual in secrecy. Supposedly, the eight were going to leave quietly and not rock the boat. After all they were political appointees of the Bush administration and were serving at the president’s pleasure. They could be fired at will, quite legally. However, the process was not only secret, it was also very clumsy, utterly botched. First, instead of firing them one at a time they chose the method known in Washington as a Saturday night massacre.» —“Blips #49 From The Martian Desk” by Gilles d’Aymery Swans Mar. 26, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...