"pencil whip"

[Jonathan Lighter]

The broad sense is "to victimize (a person) in any way, by means of a written document or notation  of any kind."  The original sense seems to have been, as Bill observes, "to falsify (a record or report)."

JL

"Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Mullins, Bill"
Subject: Re: "pencil whip"
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Thanks. I found a quote in a different sports article in which I
couldn't understand it; but it was this sense, and it makes sense now.

I also found it used in an article about buying a car, in which a
salesman might "pencil whip" you by adding on various fees, etc.

But I think the primary meaning is the one I quoted -- to falsify
records. At least, most of the cites I found (of which I only listed
the three) wer of this sense.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Paul Frank
> Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 10:56 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: "pencil whip"
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Paul Frank

> Subject: Re: "pencil whip"
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------
>
> > Poster: "Mullins, Bill"
> > "pencil whip" -- not in OED -- to falsify records
>
> Pencil whip seems to mean different things to different
> people. Wordspy defined pencil whip as "To severely
> criticize, especially as a member of the media." See
>
> http://www.wordspy.com/words/pencil-whip.asp
>
>
> Paul
> _________________________
> Paul Frank
> Chinese-English translator
> paulfrank at post.harvard.edu
> www.languagejottings.blogspot.com
>

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