welcome stranger
n.— «The lawsuit charges that through three reassessments, the former town assessor, Kathlyn Stanley, illegally raised her taxes to a level far above that of similar properties. It also charges that the town retaliated against her for challenging assessments. The suit says the town engaged in a practice sometimes called “welcome stranger” or “welcome improver,” targeting homes with new owners or that have been improved while leaving the assessments of similar homes unchanged.» —“North Salem woman whose assessment skyrocketed sues in federal court” by Elizabeth Ganga Journal News (West Harrison, New York) Dec. 21, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The word nurdle, sometimes spelled nerdle, can be used to denote various “small bits of things,” such as styrofoam packing material or detritus in one’s pockets. It may be related to the word nodule. Like thingamabob and whatsit, the word nurdle...
Linda from Wichita, Kansas, thinks we need a word for that closed-mouth little smile we give to strangers on the street — not a friendly Duchenne smile, just a polite acknowledgment of the other person’s existence. She suggests the word smurm. This...