wet job (UNCLASSIFIED)

Mullins, Bill AMRDEC Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
Thu Apr 22 14:49:13 UTC 2010


Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

I sent this once, but it didn't show up, so here it is again.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
> Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 5:33 PM
> To: 'American Dialect Society'
> Subject: FW: Re: wet job (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> THE "RITUAL MURDER" CASE IN KIEV
> GEORGE KENNAN
> Outlook (1893-1924); Nov 8, 1913; pg. 529 col 2
> "Ivan Latishef, nicknamed 'the Doctor,' a thief, pogrom rioter, and
> murder with an abnormal thirst for bloodshed. When a 'job' was
> proposed, he always asked whether it was to by 'wet' or 'dry' -- that
> is, with bloodshed or without.  He greatly preferred 'wet' jobs."
>
>
>
>
> Trevanian _The Eiger Sanction_ NY: Crown Publishing, 1972. p 12
> "Jonathan smiled at the cryptic jargon of CII, in which "demote
> maximally" meant purge by killing, "biographic leverage" meant
> blackmail, "wet work" meant killing, and "sanction" meant
> counterassassination."
>
> P 44 "The new division was called Search and Sanction -- or the SS.
> The in-house slang name, Sweat Shop, is based on the initials and a
> back formation corruption of "wet shop," in which "wet work" -- killing
> -- is the primary function."
>
>
>
> Trevanian _The Loo Sanction_ NY: Crown Publishing, 1973. p 120/121
> "The romance and peekaboo of being a government agent doubtless
> appealed to him, but, as his reaction to the Feeding Station had shown,
> the grisly "wet work" of the business upset him."
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Wed Apr 21 09:52:57 2010
> Subject:      Re: wet job
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header ---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: wet job
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Have you checked "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" itself?
>
>   I would also check the work of James Mitchell. He wrote a British TV
> series called Callan in the early 70s. The last show made was a reunion
> show in 1981 called "Wet Job".
>
> DanG
>
> On 4/21/2010 3:05 AM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
> > The earliest relevant hit I got for "wet job" is from 1980.
> >
> >
> >> Tempo
> >> Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - ProQuest Archiver - Nov 10, 1980
> >> I feel like George Smiley in 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.' At
> >> one point when someone asks Smiley if he ll go into East. Germany
> and
> >> do a wet job ...
> >> Tempo
> >> A CIA agent quits and tells--and now pays and pays
> >> Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file) - Chicago, Ill.
> >> Author: Rogers Worthington
> >> Date: Nov 10, 1980
> >> Start Page: A1
> >> Pages: 2
> >> Section: 2
> >>
> > If I am not mistaken, "Tempo" is the culture section of the Trib, so
> the
> > title is actually the second line, "A CIA agent quits and tells--and
> now
> > pays and pays".
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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