subs. (Parliamentary).—A bill that is brought in every year, but never passed into law. Hence (journalistic), any stock subject.
1892. Pall Mall Gazette, 16 Aug., p. 4, c. 2. Signs of the so-called ‘silly season’ which has been somewhat delayed this year owing to the political crisis, are now beginning to appear. The readers of the Daily Telegraph are once more filling the columns of that journal with ‘Is Marriage a Failure?’ The HARDY ANNUAL is called ‘English Wives’ this time.
