"dirty [little] war"

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:39 PM -0800 11/11/06, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Maybe a further definition is needed for some occurrences of the
>phrase, something like "characterized by or requiring requiring
>ruthless methods":
>
>   1970 Barry M. Goldwater _The Conscience of a Majority_ (Englewood
>Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall) 2: It does not mean that we assume the
>role of policeman of the world, nor does it mean that we engage in
>every dirty little war that comes along.
>
>   2004 Charles H. McPherson _Journey to Bedlam_ (N.p.: Xlibris) 1:
>On the inside, a dirty little war was being waged, pitting the
>forces of intellect, rationality, and hope against the evil forces
>of gloom, despair, and self-destruction.
>
>   It may be an indication of the phrase's relative novelty" that I
>can find no exx. of "dirty (little) war"  either in UM's  Making of
>America or in ECCO.
>
>   JL
>
>
>"Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: "Baker, John"
>Subject: Re: "dirty war"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The antiwar song "Three-Five-Zero-Zero," from the Hair cast recording =
>(1968), includes the repeated line "It's a dirty little war." It also =
>includes the repeated line "Two hundred fifty-six Viet Cong captured," =
>so it clearly does refer at least in part to the events in Indochina.
>=20
>=20
>John Baker
>=20

and, a couple of years later, courtesy of John Prine:

But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
 From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

LH

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