taboo attraction?

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>On a recent NYPD blue, the head of the squad, Lt. Tony Rodriguez, uses
>"hand job" in the sense of 'con job'.

I think some version of "masturbate [someone [male]]" is commonly used for
"bullshit [someone]" or "snow [someone]", often with some flavor of
"placate"/"pacify".

In one of the "Dirty Harry" movies ("The Enforcer" maybe?) some politician
is informed that the [rabid] press is waiting for a statement, and he says
something like "Well, let's go jerk them off" = more or less "Let's go tell
them something to placate them."

Also compare "pull [someone's] leg/chain/pisser" and "extract the
urine/Mickey"/"take the piss out of"/etc. (I picture this as a
semi-euphemistic image like milking a cow) -- all with the sense of
"bullshit" (v. trans.) although with some semantic incongruities. Also
consider "stroke [someone]", more or less equivalent. Some of these may be
etymologically distinct, but if so I believe there has been convergence.

The construction of "con job", "snow job" is a giveaway (cf. "hand job",
"blow job", etc.).

I think the basic assumption is that a male person can be calmed/placated
by rubbing/pulling his penis ... thus he might be talked into something,
for example.

-- Doug Wilson