velvet coup
n.— «A senior official with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Yadollah Javani, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying opposition leaders, including Mir Hussein Moussavi, who came second in the June 12 ballot, should also be placed on trial for trying to engineer a so-called “velvet coup” in Iran.» —“Probe urged into Iran jail ’rape'” Iran Quest Aug. 10, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Centuries ago, monks who took a vow of silence developed their own hand signs, with hundreds of gestures, that are still in use today. Plus, how do speakers of different languages distinguish similar shades and tints of colors such as red, yellow...
We use the term Milky Way for that glowing arc across the sky. But how people picture it varies from culture to culture. In Sweden, that starry band goes by a name that means “Winter Street,” and in Hawaii, a term for the Milky Way...