Brinkmanship

An aggressive negotiation tactic, whereby one party pushes the other almost to a “deal breaker” point (i.e., “the brink”).

Paul was driving down the road on a two-lane street when he noticed another car coming at him...in the same lane. Knowing he was in the right, Paul decided he would stay his course and trust the other driver to recognize they were in the wrong lane.

To Paul’s surprise, the other car did not show any sign of switching lanes, demonstrating a level of brinkmanship that caused Paul to swerve into the other lane at the last second, making an obscene hand gesture. Unfortunately, the gesture was lost on the other driver.