| 释义 |
Pinkerton|ˈpɪŋkətən|
[From the name of Allan Pinkerton, who organized a body of detectives in the U.S. in 1850.]
a. attrib. Applied to the semi-official detective force originally organized and controlled by Allan Pinkerton; as Pinkerton agency, Pinkerton man, Pinkerton method.
b. n. An officer or member of this force; an officer employed by any similar detective agency; an armed detective.
1888Philadelphia Inquirer 22 Feb. (Farmer), Employed under the protection of Pinkerton men and special policemen. 1889Farmer Dict. Amer., Pinkerton agency, a well-known semi-official detective agency. 1892Daily News 16 Aug. 5/2 We have seen what evil may come from the employment of Pinkertons and similar arguments for law and order. 1915A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear ii. vi. 274 ‘The police?’ ‘Well, a Pinkerton.’ 1955D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 33 I'd say that better than fifty per cent of Pinkertons are ex-cons. Ibid. 38 One..pickpocket, so popular that when he killed a Pinkerton detective more than a hundred thieves..poured in to testify successfully in his defense. 1967N. Mailer Cannibals & Christians i. 22 There were tough dull Pinkertons with a tendency to lean on a new visitor. a1971G. Jackson Blood in my Eye (1972) 188 Every time I hear the word ‘law’ I visualize gangs of militiamen or Pinkertons busting strikes. 1973L. Hellman Pentimento (1974) 177 Hammett..didn't much like to be around people who took dope, in his Pinkerton days he had been more afraid of them than of murderers. 1978J. Carroll Mortal Friends ii. iii. 168 Just hope to high heavens..they keep their Pinkertons out.
So Pinkerˈtonian a., of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Pinkerton or his men; ˈPinkertonism, the employment of Pinkertons.
1891Voice (N.Y.) 26 Feb., You can't make men moral by law and Pinkertonism. 1908Athenæum 11 Apr. 442/2 While an article in the ensuing number entitled ‘The Art of Advertising Made Easy’, in which Colburn's Pinkertonian methods are held up to ridicule, is shown to be Hood's. |