work to rule
n.— «Teachers are now following the existing contract to the letter, a practice called “work to rule.” Teachers begin and end the work day specified in the contract and no earlier or later.» —“Westborough teacher contract talks heat up” by John Fenuccio MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, Massachusetts) Apr. 23, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
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Amid a 1796 heat wave, Jane Austen wrote to her sister, “What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Jane Austen’s Continual State of Inelegance in a...
For this week’s puzzle, Quiz Guy John Chaneski has been swapping out a single letter within each of three words in a category. Suppose, for example, the category is fruit. What three fruits might you produce by changing just one letter in each of...
This has been used, in England at least, for decades — at least since the 1950s when I first heard it, and I suspect much earlier. The derivation is from the union rule book.
I haven’t looked up any references yet, but I am sure they will be easy to find.