dehorse
v.— «Unfortunately, unscrupulous car dealers are waiting to prey on ambitious consumers. The most insidious way this happens is through a process called “dehorsing” in which a customer loses both their new and used vehicle.…Dehorsing exists because of a gray area in the law that allows a dealer to give you a car based on the assumption of financing (this is referred to as a bailment agreement, though you’ll never see that mentioned in an actual sales document). The consumer trades in his or her car and drives out with a new one. Days or weeks later the dealer demands the car back because they couldn’t secure financing or secured financing that was outrageous. The consumer tries to get the old car but the dealers insists the car has already been sold (often it isn’t).» —“Rules of the Road: How Not to Get Dehorsed When Buying a Car” by Matt Hardigree Jalopnik Nov. 23, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
“What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like a cat, but isn’t a cat?” Answer: a kitten! A 1948 children’s joke book has lots of these to share with kids. Plus: an easy explanation for the difference between...
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 powers that be and bottomless pit, which both first appeared in scripture. • There’s a term for when the...