belly button
n.— «Hakim was a negotiator for the arms for hostages deal and as his embarrassed testimony revealed, he also had a hand in setting up a secret account to provide for the family of the ring leader of the operation, an account with a code name. ALBERT HAKIM, Arms Dealer: Actually the complete name is belly button. UNIDENTIFIED CONGRESSMAN: Does it refer to a person? Mr. HAKIM: Yes it does. CONGRESSMAN: Who? Mr. HAKIM: Lt. Colonel North.» —“All Things Considered: Where Are They Now—The Iran Contra Cast” NPR Jan. 18, 1994. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
One-Armed Paper Hanger (episode #1518) 02/18/2019: The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time better... [more]
Hair on Your Tongue (episode #1517) 02/11/2019: If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This... [more]
Train of Thought (episode #1516) 02/04/2019: Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, such as the... [more]
Colonial English (episode #1515) 01/28/2019: The anatomy of effective prose, and the poetry of anatomy. Ever wonder what it'd be like to audit a class taught by a famous writer?... [more]
Space Cadet (episode #1514) 12/24/2018: We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer involves... [more]
You must log in to post a comment.