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The smoking gun
- Thread starter hanky
- Start date
- Status
Ouisch
Key Member
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2006
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
It refers to a definitive piece of evidence used to prove someone's guilt. Literally, it means a gun that has been fired recently, and therefore would actually have smoke wafting from the barrel or the aroma of smoke if an investigator sniffed at the barrel end. A figurative example is the Watergate scandal involving President Richard Nixon. Nixon denied any involvement in the matter, but a tape recording was eventually discovered with Nixon's voice on it ordering his staff to halt the FBI investigation into the Watergate issue. This tape recording became the "smoking gun" - the vital piece of non-refutable evidence.
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