clothespin vote

9.9

A simple vote where people place clothespins on choices to show what they want

noun
/ˈkloʊðspɪn voʊt/

Informal

: voto con pinzas

The teacher organized a clothespin vote so everyone could have a say without writing anything down.

Examples

At the community meeting, they used a clothespin vote to choose the new logo.
Our club's decisions are often made by a quick clothespin vote during lunch.
Let's have a clothespin vote!
I love the idea of a clothespin vote for our picnic activities!
At the community meeting, they used a clothespin vote to choose the new logo.
Our club's decisions are often made by a quick clothespin vote during lunch.
The teacher organized a clothespin vote so everyone could have a say without writing anything down.

Synonyms

straw vote

vsclothespin vote

1 5.5

A quick unofficial vote to see if people support an idea

uses physical tokens placed on options to record individual preferences directly

Surface Forms

clothespin vote singular

clothespin votes plural

Morphology

clothespin + vote

The phrase directly combines 'clothespin' (a fastening device) with 'vote', so the meaning 'a voting method using clothespins' is transparently inferable from the parts. This is a straightforward compositional naming pattern (using a physical object to register votes) that a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand even without prior exposure.

Etymology

The term clothespin vote comes from a simple method: people clip a clothespin onto a card or poster next to the option they like so the choices are shown by the pins. So, a clothespin vote means an informal, quick way 'to vote' or show a group's choice.