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In One's Dodge

Posted by Masakim on May 06, 2003

In Reply to: In One's Dodge posted by Bob on May 05, 2003

: : : What does the expression "in our dodge", as in the following, mean, and what is its origin?

: : : "That type of query about a lack of fierceness is known in our dodge as 'the Dukakis trap.'"

: : : Thanks for any help.

: : Just a guess, but dodge here seems to mean "our part of the country", "this particualr region", somewhere along those lines. The origin is probably the old American TV series Gunsmoke, which took place in Dodge City. There is also an expression "Get out of (or outta) Dodge!" which means the same as "Get out of here, you must be kidding!" It is used as a response when one is told something that one finds unbelieveable.

: Not really. "Dodge" in this case is a slang term for "profession," usually used ironically, in a self-deprecating way, to indicate my "dodge" is a little less than totally respectable. "Dodge" used to mean a con game, a scheme, and this speaker (probably a political advisor) is revealing the shared wisdom of that line of work, where asking a certain kind of question leads on to step into trouble, as Michael Dukakis did (so very often) in his campaign for President.

dodge n by 1842 A person's way of making a living, esp if illegal or dubious. Often ironically and deprecatingly used of one's own perfectly ordinary line of work: "We used to run gin, but when prohibition ended we had to give up that dodge": "One of the better practitioners of the dictionary dodge"
From Dictionary of American Slang by Robert L. Chapman
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Part of the gruntwork of people in the language dodge is to keep track of neologisms. (William Safire, _The New York Times Magazine_, September 13, 1981)

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