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Spin the drum

Posted by ESC on October 01, 2003

In Reply to: Spin the drum posted by john endicott on October 01, 2003

: does anybody know where we get the saying "To spin the drum" when police refer to searching someones house/home.

One reference says it is a British term but no origin was listed. "When the premises in which he/she lives are searched, London police call the procedure 'spinning drums.'." From "The Wordsworth Book of Euphemism" by Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver (Wordsworth Editions, Hertfordshire, 1995).

The image I get is when the drums spin and a lottery number is selected.

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