pencil-whip

[Larry Scroggs]

I am a subscriber to the ADS-L mailing list and enjoy reading the posts to the list. I am an elementary school teacher in El Paso, Texas and was raised as a military brat before pursuing a military career myself.

Yesterday, in another newsletter I receive,  I read a term I have only heard in the military... pencil-whipped. The quote was: "The next morning they arrived at the airport to find that  after another delay, the flight had been canceled...again.  Panic time now. 4 new Marines gonna be late. A man near the  counter overheard their plight.  Took them to a rental car  counter, pencil whipped the contract, since he is a frequent  driver. Gave the oldest Marine the keys and contract. Told they  to drive careful, be safe, turn the car in and SEMPER FI."

In the military I always heard the term "pencil-whipped" used to mean doing the paperwork  so as to cover up not performing a task. For example "Instead of going to the rifle range and qualifying with my weapon, the company clerk just pencil-whipped the qualification paperwork for me." If so, what is the meaning of "pencil whipped" in the quote above? The quote seems to infer that he faked the paperwork but is faking a car rental contract by a customer possible?

I would be interested in anyone's input on this. Thanks.

Larry



Larry
Larry at Scroggs.com
El Paso, Texas, USA
"I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable; to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all." -- Leo C. Rosten

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