Slang phrase nigger from the woodpile "a hid motive or mysterious factor affecting a scenario in an adverse way" [OED 1989] is attested by 1800; Thornton's "American Glossary" (1912) defines it as "A mode of accounting for the disappearance of fuel," therefore "an unsolved thriller.They employed samurai swords, shurikens, along with other fatal wea… Read More