death panel

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

death panel

Etymology

First used in a 2009 Facebook note by U.S. politician Sarah Palin: "... my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care."

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)

Noun

death panel (plural death panels)

(US, originally in right-wing discourse, otherwise humorous) A fictitious government committee which is responsible for choosing which of various patients will receive healthcare, and which withholds life-saving treatment from some in order to reduce costs.^[1]

References

^ “'Tweet' 2009 Word of the Year, 'Google' Word of the Decade, as voted by American Dialect Society”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], American Dialect Society, 2010 January 8, retrieved October 8, 2010

[adspr-1] “'Tweet' 2009 Word of the Year, 'Google' Word of the Decade, as voted by American Dialect Society”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], American Dialect Society, 2010 January 8, retrieved October 8, 2010

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