indict a ham sandwich

== English == === Etymology === Possibly alluding to ham sandwich (“something utterly commonplace, of modest value”). The term was popularized by the American jurist Sol Wachtler (born 1930) who used it in 1985 shortly after his appointment as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals when expressing the view that the use of grand juries to bring indictments should be abolished: see the 1985 quotation. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ɪnˈdaɪt‿ə ˌhæm ˈsændwɪt͡ʃ/ Hyphenation: in‧dict a ham sand‧wich === Verb === indict a ham sandwich (third-person singular simple present indicts a ham sandwich, present participle indicting a ham sandwich, simple past and past participle indicted a ham sandwich) (intransitive, chiefly US, criminal law, humorous, hyperbolic, idiomatic) Of a grand jury: to charge a person with a crime, despite a perceived lack of evidence. [from late 20th c.] ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === Barry Popik (15 July 2004), “Indict a Ham Sandwich”, in The Big Apple‎[3], archived from the original on 19 August 2025.