shibboleth
noun SHIB-uh-luth
Definition
: catchword, slogan
: a widely held belief or truism
: a custom or usage regarded as distinctive of a particular group
Examples
The town's name is a shibboleth: locals know its pronunciation does not reflect its French spelling but others use the Gallic pronunciation of the more famous European city.
"For Gorbachev, schooled in the rusty shibboleths of party ideology, the West was intent on destroying the Soviet Union." — Vladimir Tismaneanu, The Times Higher Education Supplement, 12 Nov. 2015
source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day
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