to "spit-shine"

[Jonathan Lighter]

A final tweak: I've been saying that "haste" was probably the preodminant early What I should have been saying is "pressure."  It's not that the shine was hasty (and perhaps sloppy), just that it had to be done or else. In certain situations, as in the military, it would also have to be done to a high standard, hence the drift in meaning.

  JL


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