In lieu of work (I am supposed to be on vacation), I was just reading a review in the NYT by Christopher Hitchens of Bob Woodward’s new book, The Secret Man. The review contains this (abridged) sentence:
“…and that very special moment when John Mitchell, a former attorney general of these United States, made an explicit threat to Katharine Graham’s poitrine.”
Which, of course, begs the question, “What the hell does poitrine mean?” I’m at a loss. I looked it up in the two dictionairies that I have on hand, as well as in an on-line dictionary. No dice. On a hunch, I used Babel Fish to translate what might be a French word into English, and I got “chest”. That doesn’t make much sense. So I’m opening this up to the floor. Anybody have any idea what the word means? Bonus points will be awarded to anyone who can also fill in the historical context.
Update: Well, times up. I answered my own question. “Chest” is in fact the answer. From Wikipedia:
Katharine Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was the head of The Washington Post newspaper for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period, the Watergate coverage that helped bring down President Richard Nixon. She has been widely described as one of the most powerful American women of the 20th century. Graham was the subject of one of the most famous threats in American journalism history. It occurred in 1972, when Nixon’s Attorney General, John Mitchell, warned reporter Carl Bernstein about a forthcoming article: “Katie Graham’s gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that’s published.”
Holy shit. That Watergate was messed up.
July 20th, 2005 at 4:02 pm
From Graham’s memoir:
“In an effort to check [Woodward and Bernstein’s original story linking the Watergate break-in to the Committee to Re-Elect the President] out, Bernstein called Mitchell directly, reaching him at a hotel in New York, where Mitchell answered the phone himself. When Carl told him about the story, Mitchell exploded with an exclamation of “JEEEEEEESUS,” so violent that Carl felt it was “some sort of primal scream” and thought Mitchell might die on the telephone. After he’d read him the first two paragraphs, Mitchell interrupted, still screaming, “All that crap, you’re putting it in the paper? It’s all been denied. Katie Graham’s gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that’s published. Good Christ! That’s the most sickening thing I ever heard.”
Republicans = potty mouths.