windmill
v.— «We also learned we have windmilled ourselves when it comes to driving fuel-efficient cars and trucks. “Windmilled” is a term used to describe what happens when good intentions meet reality. When private entrepreneurs wanted to put windmills around Cape Cod to generate electricity, they ran into critics—among them Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has made a career out of campaigning for renewable energy, except, apparently, where he could actually see it.» —“Tracking, then taxing, mileage sounds like trouble” by Joe Soucheray Pioneer Press (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota) Feb. 21, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Why do people say They don’t geehaw to mean “They don’t get along”? Geehaw, occasionally spelled jeehaw, comes from the calls people use to drive a team of animals, such as oxen, mules, horses, or sled dogs, gee being an...
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...