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Ratfucking
Ratfucking is an American slang term for political sabotage or dirty tricks, particularly pertaining to elections. It was brought to public attention by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in the book which chronicled their investigative reporting of the Watergate affair, ''All the President's Men'' (1974). Origins Woodward and Bernstein's account in ''All the President's Men'' reports that many Republican staffers ( H. R. Haldeman (pre-1948), Donald Segretti (early 1960s), White House aide Tim Elbourne, Ronald Louis Ziegler, and Dwight Chapin) had attended the University of Southern California and participated in the highly competitive student elections there. At USC, future Watergate scandal participants Dwight L. Chapin, Tim Elbourne, Donald Segretti, Gordon C. Strachan, Herbert Porter, and Ron Ziegler were members of Trojans for Representative Government. UPI reporter Karlyn Barker sent Woodward and Bernstein a memo, "Notes On the USC Crowd", that outlined the connection. Frater ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and usage (language), linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular In-group and out-group, in-groups in order to establish group identity, exclude outsiders, or both. The word itself came about in the 18th century and has been defined in multiple ways since its conception. Etymology of the word ''slang'' In its earliest attested use (1756), the word ''slang'' referred to the vocabulary of "low" or "disreputable" people. By the early nineteenth century, it was no longer exclusively associated with disreputable people, but continued to be applied to usages below the level of standard educated speech. In Scots dialect it meant "talk, chat, gossip", as used by Aberdeen poet William Scott in 1832: "The slang gaed on aboot their war'ly care." In northern English dialect it meant "impertinence, abusiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |