Washington Monument ploy
n.— «Cynics suggest the proposed park closings are merely a bargaining tactic, a way to gain leverage in getting the budget passed. There’s even a name for it in political circles: the “Washington Monument ploy.” Politicians announce highly unpopular cuts, and then relent in exchange for other concessions.» —“Closing of parks undermines state’s eco-tourism industry” by Michele S. Byers Asbury Park Press (New Jersey) Apr. 9, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Responding to our discussion about thin places, those spots where the boundary between this world and other realities seems narrow or permeable, a listener in Kirkland, Washington, sent us some eloquent thoughts about her own experiences of that...
Alright, alright, alright! How do some catchphrases become part of the larger vernacular—to the point where people don’t always know the original reference? And the island of Ocracoke off the coast of North Carolina has a distinctive dialect all its...