whippy
n.— «The system is broken, Donelon said, adding that he sees the evidence daily in the mounting number of “whippys”—defense attorney slang for whiplash claims, so common that they are paid out at a standard rate, even though the medical experts cannot vouch that anything is really wrong.» —“Foster’s Goal Is No-Fault Insurance Detractors Say It Won’t Cut Costs” by Christopher Cooper New Orleans Times-Picayune (Lousiana) Nov. 17, 1996. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...