scarlet letter
n.— «Two senators unveiled a measure Thursday that would require drivers convicted of three drunken-driving offenses in a five-year period, or four within 10 years, to purchase license plates with a number code that police could use to identify them as convicted drunken drivers.…In Ohio, the plates are known as “scarlet letters.”» —“DWI plates would ID offenders” by Amanda Erickson in Albany, N.Y. Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, N.Y. ) June 17, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Dan, an accountant in Cincinnati, Ohio, wonders about the origin of the term bean counter. This is part of a complete episode.
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Thomas from Huntsville, Alabama, was baffled when his Ohio-born fiancée told him she was going to sweep the house, then proceeded to use a vacuum cleaner. Is she the only person who calls a vacuum cleaner a sweeper? This is part of a complete...