the Machine

[Jonathan Lighter]

It seems to mean "the Establishment."

JL

On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 12:43 AM, Paul Frank <paulfrank at post.harvard.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul Frank <paulfrank at POST.HARVARD.EDU>
> Subject:      the Machine
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> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> One of the senses of the word "machine" in the OED is this: "10. orig.
> U.S.  [Compare sense 6b.] The controlling organization of a political
> party or similar body; any organization or group displaying impressive
> or ruthless efficiency." But I don't think that's quite what The
> Machine means here (see below). Or is it?
>
> WikiLeaks vs The Machine
> US government tells firms to pull plug on whistleblowing website as
> hackers cause chaos with revenge attacks on Assange's 'enemies'
> <
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wikileaks-vs-the-machine-2155031.html
> >
>
> Paul
>
> Paul Frank
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