oed monkeywrench (UNCLASSIFIED)

Mullins, Bill AMRDEC Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
Mon Sep 27 17:32:17 UTC 2010


Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE


OED has "monkey wrench" (v trans; "to disrupt, obstruct, or spoil) from
20 Aug 1955.

[Columbia SC]_State_ 5/5/1912 sec 1 p 4 col 6 (Newsbank EAN)
"It may have "wrenched" Mr. Taft's soul, but it did not prevent him from
monkey-wrenching the Colonel's record. -- Birmingham News"

[Cedar Rapids IA] _Evening Gazette_ 5/19/1920 p 4 col 5
(Newspaperarchive)
"If one machine gets a monkey wrench thrown into it, the other one will,
and it will be a race between two crippled cars.  May the best
monkey-wrenched machine win."


_Duluth [MN] News-Tribune_ 1/12/1922 p 12 col 3 (Newsbank EAN)
"On, no; submarines did not torpedo the conference -- just
monkeywrenched its propeller."

_Los Angeles Times_ 2/7/1937 p D8  col 1 (ProQuest Hist Newspapers)
"Now, unknown to Mr. Gable, a very festive table was being prepared for
him by his studio friends; Myrna Loy and John M. Stahl arranged details
for all, but his appearance nearly monkey-wrenched the plans."

_The Christian Science Monitor_  Mar 23, 1946; pg. 3 col 3 (ProQuest
Hist Newspapers)
"The Army Air Forces' strength is declining, with its size cut to about
500,000 officers and men and efficiency monkey-wrenched -- the word is
used advisedly -- by lack of ground repair crews."


It has "monkeywrenching" (n) from 1985

_Los Angeles Times_ 5/20/1983 p B11 col 1
"Such acts are now called "eco-tage" or "monkey-wrenching."  "We don't
plan any monkey-wrenching here today," said David Foreman, one of the
organizers of the demonstration."
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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