terror-clown
n.— «The car bombs—one parked outside a London nightclub, one near Trafalgar Square and one driven into Glasgow airport—seemed especially incompetent. Lewis Page, a former bomb-disposal officer, suspects the patio-gas canisters crammed into the three vehicles would not have made much of a bang even if they had gone off. The “terror-clowns,” as he calls them, had their second London car bomb towed away by parking wardens; the driver of the Glasgow jeep doused himself in petrol only to be put out again by the fire brigade.» —“Three times lucky” Economist July 5, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks stroll the surface searching for objects that have found their way into the river over the centuries, everything from ancient Roman jewelry to modern...
There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little seven-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding — and all in Latin. A new book argues that this rigorous curriculum actually nurtured the creativity that later flourished...