whisper number
n.— Note: A rumor about a company’s financial performance, plans, deals, etc. «Pre-election, Blair’s Labor Party held a 166-seat majority in Parliament. The betting was on how big a majority he would keep, with the general consensus—in Wall Street parlance, “the whisper number”—being 100 seats.» —“With Dictators Like Hugo Chavez, Who Needs to Make It Up?” by Jeff Matthews Jeff Matthews Is Not Making This Up May 6, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
The archaic English word ruelle means “the space between a bed and the wall.” It’s adapted from French ruelle meaning “a small alley or lane.” This is part of a complete episode.
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