three-thousand-mile screwdriver
n.— «Whether filters will or should be installed, and whether this encourages the use of the proverbial three thousand mile screwdriver : that is, command and control from very far afield—are matters for research and doctrinal development.» —“Network-centric warfare” by Arthur K. Cebrowski Military Technology May 1, 2003. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange assignment: find a monarch caterpillar. The result? A memorable lesson in the miracle of metamorphosis...
Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won’t find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers in the book Home Ground: A Guide to the American Landscape. The book is an intriguing collection...