bully whippet
n.— «When mutant, muscle-bound puppies started showing up in litters of champion racing whippets, the breeders of the normally sleek dogs invited scientists to take DNA samples at race meets here and across the country. They hoped to find a genetic cause for the condition and a way to purge it from the breed. It worked. “Bully whippets,” as the heavyset dogs are known, turn out to have a genetic mutation that enhances muscle development. And breeders may not want to eliminate the “bully” gene after all.» —“As Breeders Test DNA, Dogs Become Guinea Pigs” by Amy Harmon in Fort Mott State Park, New Jersey New York Times June 12, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won’t find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers in the book Home Ground: A Guide to the American Landscape. The book is an intriguing collection...
Gene calls from the Badlands of South Dakota to ask about ordering a glass of water at a restaurant by asking for a blue dolphin neat. Is that widely used? There are many slang terms used when ordering water, such as windmill cocktail, city coke...