door knocker
n.— «If you are not at home at the time of delivery, it is common practice for the delivery driver to leave a “DOOR KNOCKER” with instructions for alternate arrangements of your package.» —“Flexible Learning Distance Education” University of Windsor Bookstore (Ontario, Canada) Feb. 21, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Daniel Mendelsohn is a widely acclaimed author, critic, classicist, and professor at Bard College. A few years ago, when he was teaching an undergraduate seminar on The Odyssey (Bookshop|Amazon) his 81-year-old father, Jay, decided to sit in on the...
Linda in Salisbury, North Carolina, wonders why boxing is called the sweet science, since there’s nothing obviously sweet about a bruising sport. This term took hold among British sportswriters in the early 19th century as promoters tried to frame...