scarlet letter
n.— «The court became the first in Ohio to immobilize the vehicles of repeat OMVI offenders. Adkins also began ordering repeat offenders to put yellow license tags on their automobiles as “scarlet letters,” he said.» —“Court of Appeal; Fun-Loving Yet Serious Circleville Judge Makes An Impression” by Jim Massie in Circleville, Ohio Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) Sept. 2, 1993. (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...
How do dictionaries define colors? And why are some of those definitions so confusing, like “stronger than carmine” and “bluer than fiesta”? Dictionary editor Kory Stamper explains it all in her new book. Plus, the story behind the expression more...