Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 07:52:06 -0500 From: Joan Livingston-Webber Subject: stalking horse My chair said, "We're not using her as a stalking horse." His own explanation of the term was of hiding behind the horse in order not to spook bison while hunting on the plains. Thus my wondering about regional distribution, even though American Heritage lists it without qualification. It may be generational. It may have to do with arenas of care--i.e. caring about the mechanisms of party politics, for example. Or it could simply be something I've never encountered for other reasons. -- Joan Livingston-Webber webber[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]unomaha.edu "What gets better is the precision with which we vex each other." -Clifford Geertz