soda straw effect
n.— «One of the great difficulties of assessing the war is overcoming what some officers call the “soda straw effect,” i.e., having a constricted view during travels but thinking that what you’re seeing somehow represents the entirety of the country.» —“Fallujah catches its breath” by David J. Morris in Fallujah, Iraq Salon Aug. 21, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don’t want you tipping over a hot beverage. Originally, the tea here was the letter T, as in “truth.” To spill the T means to “pass along truthful information.” Plus...
When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In some places, you call those bedclothes and blankets a pallet. This word comes from an old term for “straw.” And: What’s the story...