stovepipe
n.— «Mr. Rapport urged Secretary Rumsfeld to bypass traditional procurement bottlenecks and what the industry refers to as “stovepipes” to seek out and avail himself of the capabilities of small defense contractors.» —“Department of Defense Letter Highlights Capabilities of Specialty Contractors” in New York BusinessWire July 28, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Brian from Lafayette, Indiana, wonders why chicken is abbreviated CHX in the restaurant industry. Using X as a substitute or shortener has a long history. Medieval scribes sometimes drew a line through the final stroke of an abbreviated word. This...
Nancy Gabriel from Ithaca, New York, recalls her father’s no-nonsense responses to minor injuries when she was a child: After making sure she was really all right, he’d say, It’s far enough from your heart; it won’t kill you. Other times he...