I encounter this on pick-up trucks most often. The little lever on the steering column which you have to press in roder to remove the key from the ignition after turning the engine off.
What is it called.
Once I know that I may properly curse this foul contraption! What is this thing’s purpose, other than casuing me to curse it every time I get out of vehicle that has one?
-rainy
Key release lever or button.
Dammit Stick
It prevents you from unintentionally engaging the steering wheel lock should you have a situation (e.g. throttle stuck wide open) that calls for turning off the engine while going down the road. Some other designs use shifting into park to effect this.
My manual-transmission car (an '03 Nissan Maxima) uses neither; I haven’t tried this, but I expect I could readily kill the engine and remove the key (thus engaging the steering lock) while cruising at speed.
Let us know how it goes! 
Yeah, it seems this is a safety feature that hasn’t been universally adopted.
All this, for some reason, reminds me of something my brother told me many, many years ago: An automobile engine is a wonderful thing, the generator generates, the regulator regulates, and the pistons…they work,too.
Well, at least it has a function, because it is “dammit stick” annoying.