lava-lamp-switch

An old American Indian trick whereby two seemingly similar objects are swapped for nefarious purposes. Originally, tribesman would switch wigwams with another tribesman if they found their wigwam to be leaky.

The recipient of the new wigwam then bears the cost of fixing the leaky cover. The term was modernised in 2006, after it was noted that broken lava lamps resembled leaky wigwams.

This behaviour has also been observed in ant society, in particular with reference to the species "Sless".

That clown has pulled a lava-lamp-switch!

Surely my friend hasn't betrayed me with a lava-lamp-switch?