witness post
n.— «In recent years the state of Louisiana has embarked on the grueling process of improving its infrastructure maps. People trudge through marshes looking for so-called witness posts, aboveground markers for pipelines. After one such study, notes Roland Guidry, Louisiana’s oil-spill coordinator, “some of the companies were flabbergasted that their pipelines were over a quarter of a mile off from where they thought.”» —“The next energy crisis” by Nicholas Varchaver Fortune/CNNMoney Aug. 2, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A former resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, wonders why the English spoken there sounds distinct from both New Orleans English and Cajun English. It’s a combination of factors, including vowel lengthening common to the broader Southern dialect, a...
The new book Gesture: A Slim Guide (Bookshop|Amazon) by linguist Lauren Gawne includes some fascinating studies about the movements that accompany spoken or signed language. In one, participants were asked to learn rules of a game, then explain...