Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. idiomatic The practice of trying to stop something that persistently occurs in an apparently random manner at the point where the occurrence is noticed, such as terminating spammers’ e-mail accounts or closing pop-up advertisement windows.
Etymologies
- From the arcade game Whac-A-Mole, which involves quickly and repeatedly hitting the heads of mechanical moles with a mallet as they pop up from holes. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“That process, which some advocacy groups have referred to as "whack-a-mole," is costly for both sides, Warren said.”
The Washington Post: New studies show changes to credit cards after landmark law
“The problem, as others have pointed out, is that naming certain banned activities is a game of whack-a-mole.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Help Draft the Federalism Restoration Amendment
“You can play whack-a-mole with this stuff all day.”
“This also creates a whack-a-mole game between speculators and the government as liquidity shifts from one asset class to another.”
“Part of this 'whack-a-mole' practice is broader human tradition.”
The Huffington Post: Matthis Chiroux: The Wisdom and Power of a Leaderless Resistance
“Mr. Assad's forces appear to be increasingly resorting to a brutal game of whack-a-mole by relying on increasingly heavy weaponry, said Andrew Tabler, a Syrian expert at the Washington Institute for Near Policy, referring to the carnival game where players bash a mole which rears its head from one hole, only to see it pop up from another.”
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Steps Up Pressure to Oust Assad
“The fragmented, fractured media is, of course, partly to blame, as Obama finds himself playing whack-a-mole to every manufactured 24-hour news drama that erupts from someone's latest Twitter message or blog post.”
“And the investors will not show their heads as long as Barry is wielding the whack-a-mole hammer.”
White House steadfast on pledge of no middle-class tax increase
“Slapping down baseless smears and accusations of antisemitism from TNR, is a thankless game of whack-a-mole.”
“Abroad, Mr. Bagley compared U.S. efforts to a massive game of whack-a-mole in which drug supplies, drug violence and crime are "shuffled from one country to the other.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘whack-a-mole’.
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Hyphen Nation
Terms with multiple hyphens, such as rent-a-crowd. Not intended to be a see-how-many-words-one-can-string-together-with-hyphens-used-adjectively sort of list.
much-talked-of, vis-à-vis, tête-à-tête, rope-a-dope, will-o'-the-wisp, dick-a-tuesday, will-in-the-wisp, jack-o'-lantern, jack-with-a-lantern, ear-to-ear, whack-a-mole, no-man's-land and 205 more...
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geekwad's Words
mysterium, elif, reckon, shadowy, ostensibly, unique, foodie, surreptitiously, asynchronous, insane, berserk, space pirate and 235 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for whack-a-mole.
Comments
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