[Q] From Bob Arnold, USA: “We are indeed separated by a common language! A report on the BBC Web site on 31 May about the European Community included this: “With 25 countries and 455 million people to govern, it simply isn’t enough to spatchcock together a bunch of rules at short notice.” Could you enlighten me about spatchcock?”
[A] To spatchcock in this figurative sense is indeed mainly British. It means to stuff things together inappropriately, to interpolate or insert something in a forced or incongruous manner. Another example, from the Independent newspaper in 2003, will help to give the idea: “But far from being some grand, thoughtful programme, it was only a spatchcock of improvisation and platitude.” — World Wide Words
