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Sep 25, 2015 · As used by the speaker, a "smoking gun decision" is simply a decision made under extreme duress, as if while a smoking gun were being waved at you by the person asking you for your decision. The first instance that Google Books finds of "smoking gun" in the sense of "irrefutable proof of guilt" appears in the context of the Watergate scandal of 1973–1974.
Mar 12, 2015 · The term "smoking gun" was originally, and is still primarily, a reference to an object or fact that serves as conclusive evidence of a crime or similar act. In addition to this, its meaning has evolved in uses completely unrelated to criminal activity: for example, scientific evidence that is highly suggestive in favor of a particular hypothesis is sometimes called smoking gun evidence.
Sep 13, 2015 · Possession of a smoking gun is not ipso facto evidence of guilt. Possession is a fact: it is either true or false that the defendant possesses a smoking gun. Real conservatives do not reject homosexuality per se (in itself) so much as they reject victimology. Homosexuality is a thing: it either exists or it doesn't.
Aug 26, 2015 · Lucy realized this was the smoking gun that would convict Robert. This does several things. First, we're highlighting the now-valuable object in question. Second, we're using the cool phrase "smoking gun". Third, we're showing that the result of proof is a conviction. Fourth, we're acknowledging that the conviction is in the character's future ...
Nov 15, 2020 · Aiming a gun (At, on, in) I wonder because I've seen fiction that says "He aimed his rifle at the enemy" and other times "He aimed his rifle on the enemy" and at times "He aimed his gun in the enemy" and I wonder what is the correct way to say that a gun is being aimed? Is it at? In? On? Not "in". And "on" would only be used in certain contexts.
Apr 13, 2022 · A quick search of Google Books suggests this figurative phrase is fairly recent. New York Magazine (28 Jun 1982 - Page 15 - Vol. 15, No. 26) has an article on public speaking:
John Doe's fingerprints were on the gun, and that sealed the deal. Today, he was found guilty. John Doe's fingerprints were on the gun, and that unraveled the knot. Today, he was found guilty. This one is clunky with the gun example I've been using, so I'll change it to knife. John Doe's fingerprints were on the knife, and that was our smoking gun.
Jun 23, 2020 · In this case, although there is no smoking gun, the 'to a tittle' derivation would probably stand up in court as 'beyond reasonable doubt'. So the OED and Phrase Finder agree that the most likely etymology is that the phrase to a T comes from to a tittle. There is also the phrase: to a tittle, with minute exactness, to the smallest particular ...
Mar 12, 2017 · It comes from the latin 'chirugiae'; I can't easily find context for its use, as google aliases it to 'surgery'. @Josh does that entry say when 'surgery' became preferred over 'chirurgy'? There are other (more successful) examples of restoration of Greek "ch," such as "schism" and "schedule."
Nov 30, 2018 · As a noun, “jam” developed a variety of meanings, most of them involving either the act of “jamming” or the result of “jamming,” as in a “traffic jam” or, in a figurative sense, “jam” meaning a difficult situation (“I’m in a jam. But I’m not going to the cleaners…. Half of this money is mine,” Raymond Chandler ...
