Trondheim Hammer Dance
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Originally a spoken-word description of an imaginary Norwegian dance: "Zees vos zer TRONDHEIM HAMMER DONCE, vich ees herrd every tventy-five minutes in the town of Trondheim, in vich zee old ladies are stuck around zer head veeth round stick, or KNURTEL."
And described as an extract from "Pleasures of the Dance" which appears on Another Monty Python Record
Trondheim Hammer Dance is now in common use to describe a Bureaucratic trick in which the real reason for something (violence to old ladies, in the Trondheim Hammer Dance) is disguised as a Cultural activity.
For example: Some local councils in the UK and their attitudes to Christmas decorations are a typical Trondheim Hammer Dance. In banning council spending on Christmas decorations to save money (the emic reason), the council cites possible offence to other cultures (the etic reason).
