> **throw (someone) a bone** (idiom) > > *Informal* > > To offer (someone) something that is not very important or valuable > especially to stop complaints or protests > > *The boss would not let his workers out early for the holiday but threw them a bone by buying lunch.* [M-W][1] > **throw a bone to** (phrase) > > Give someone only a token concession. > > *Was the true purpose of the minimum wage hike to throw a bone to the unions?* > >*I bet this was already obsolete in design and technology some years back, and they wanted to throw a bone to the public.* [Lexico][2] -------------------------- > **Angry** at the betrayal of their supposed friends and allies, SNCC [Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] lashed out that “this **token offer** of recognition was too much like > the **usual bone thrown** to Negroes who showed signs of revolt.” > [Harvard Sitkoff; *The Struggle for Black Equality*][3] (2008) [1]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/throw%20%28someone%29%20a%20bone#:~:text=Definition%20of%20throw%20(someone)%20a,a%20bone%20by%20buying%20lunch. [2]: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/throw_a_bone_to [3]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Struggle_for_Black_Equality/_idGCdBFGC4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=angry%20token%20as%20being%20thrown%20a%20bone&pg=PT158&printsec=frontcover