taboo attraction?

[Benjamin Barrett]

I would take this to mean a frivolous action or monkeying around, not a
con job...

Benjamin Barrett
Bringing tiramisu and mont blanc to Seattle

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Laurence Horn
Sent: Tuesday, 07 January, 2003 17:11
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: taboo attraction?


(as opposed to taboo avoidance)

On a recent NYPD blue, the head of the squad, Lt. Tony Rodriguez, uses
"hand job" in the sense of 'con job'.  He's talking to his ex-wife, who
is trying to get off drugs, explaining how he had to call in a lot of
favors to get her into a detox center in Brooklyn. "So if this is
another hand job...", he says.  To which she assures him that no, she's
really serious about quitting this time.  Is this use of the compound
otherwise attested?  Or were they just trying to see if we were paying
attention and/or trying to earn their "viewer discretion" label?

larry