Smoking Gun
Smoking Gun - Amazingly, though the imagery of this phrase (”incontrovertible evidence of guilt”) is so vivid and obvious, it is relatively recent in origin. Coined during the 70s Watergate scandal when Republican congressman Barber Conable, upon listening to a tape of a conversation between Richard Nixon and his chief of staff H.R. Haldeman, said “looks like a smoking gun”, meaning that it sounded like Nixon had approved the cover up.
Email This Post
