Sep 22, 2012 17:21
11 yrs ago
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English term
tip him the wink
English
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General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
"And that," said Keogh, "is the way me and Henry Horsecollar introduced the phonograph into this country. Henry went back to the States, but I've been rummaging around in the tropics ever since. They say Mellinger never travelled a mile after that without his phonograph. I guess it kept him reminded about his graft whenever he saw the siren voice of the boodler tip him the wink with a bribe in its hand."
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Change log
Sep 22, 2012 17:21: changed "Kudoz queue" from "In queue" to "Public"
Responses
+1
1 hr
Selected
make an invitation to him to be dishonest and receive a bribe
In this story, "boodle" is used to mean a bribe, and "boodler" is the person who is offering it. "tip him the wink" means that the briber is making an illicit proposal to Mellinger, to get his cooperation in return for a bribe.
Example sentence:
to give someone a piece of secret or private information that might bring an advantage to them
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+2
1 hr
give him a knowing wink [that his secret was known but would be kept confidential]
Not sure what part of the phonograph is being referred to as the ‘boodler’, whose literal meaning in the C19th was ‘cheat, cad’. I suppose it could be a reference to the nodding and swinging of the needle falling into place on the record, and/or the shape of the playing arm.
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