Government Slang, Jargon, and New Words from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Citations in the Category Government

Washington D.C., United Nations, state and local governments, civil service, Federal government, bureaucracy, etc. You can also see entries assigned to this category.

(5/7 pages) « First < 3 4 5 6 7 >

milker bill n. politicians routinely submit legislative bills that would take money from various persons or groups, and then withdraw them once (constitutionally protected) payments are made. These bills go by different names. In California they are called “juice bills,” referring to their ability to squeeze those who would lose from taxation unless they pay up. In Illinois, they are called “fetcher bills,” for their ability to fetch money from otherwise victimized taxpayers who pay to avoid the greater financial pain. “Milker” bills is another term used, for obvious reasons. [English Government Politics Slang] [full cite] (Jul. 16, 2008)

Mollie’s measure n. The current federal poverty threshold was developed in the 1960s by Mollie Orshansky, an economist with the Social Security Administration, who based her number on a 1955 Department of Agriculture study that said low-income Americans spent about a third of their after-tax money on food. If a family had annual income equal to three times the annual cost of basic groceries, Orshansky reasoned, they were not poor. Obviously, that formula was developed in a very different America. Yet Mollie’s Measure, as it is known in poverty circles, is still pegged to an annual grocery bill, adjusted for little more than price increases over time. [English United States Government Money & Finance] [full cite] (Jan. 10, 2008)

NOC n. Barnes is a neophyte agent, an ex-doctoral candidate in Ottoman history, trained as a case officer under nonofficial cover, “known in the secret language of the club as NOC. As in: knock on wood.” Naive and idealistic, she was “afflicted with the disease, common and occasionally fatal among intelligence officers, of wanting to make the world better.” [English Government Acronym] [full cite] (Jul. 5, 2007)

one-house bill n. It seems many in the Capitol press corps chose to let this story go by because the legislation is what’s known in Albany parlance as a “one-house bill.” That is, it doesn’t have a sponsor in the other house (the Assembly, in this case), and it’s not going anywhere, practically speaking. [New York English Government Politics] [full cite] (Jun. 22, 2007)

pass a bill under the hammer v. phr. Thousands of bills were considered during the legislative session and 466 roll call votes were taken. The vast majority of bills are voted unanimously to either pass or fail out of committee and the House of Representatives usually honors the wishes of the committee with a unanimous vote on the floor that is not recorded. This process is called passing a bill “under the hammer.” [English Government Jargon] [full cite] (May. 24, 2008)

privilege speech n. A few minutes after he received an ovation from his colleagues, Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, blasted him in what is called “privilege speech” on the House floor. [Texas English Government Politics Jargon] [full cite] (Jun. 5, 2007)

red tagging n. But the town of South Cle Elum has brought the sale of the single-family house to a halt by refusing to grant an occupancy permit. They also ordered Vaughn and his partners to stop work on the home, a procedure known as red tagging. Building inspectors say the house doesn’t meet setback requirements because of the roof overhang. [English Government Houses & Housing Jargon] [full cite] (May. 22, 2007)

retail eavesdropping n. Some might picture an agent climbing a telephone pole and attaching a wire to a telephone line, but such a technique, called retail eavesdropping, is only useful for going after one phone line at a time. [English Government Jargon] [full cite] (Jun. 6, 2007)

rifle shot n. Prodded by advocacy groups on both sides of the issue, members of Congress are considering various narrowly targeted proposals—"rifle shots,” in Washington parlance—to ease or tighten the limits on legal entry. [English Government Politics Slang] [full cite] (Aug. 8, 2008)

sanctuary city n. Enforcing immigration law “really isn’t our job,” he said. “That’s the INS’s…This is a sanctuary city, and we have city policies we have to abide by.” [English Government Law] [full cite] (Aug. 22, 2007)

(5/7 pages) « First < 3 4 5 6 7 >