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private eye
private eye a private detective. The term is first recorded in a story (1938) by Raymond Chandler. It has been suggested that the origin of the expression was the American detective agency founded by Allan Pinkerton; their motto (c.1855) was ‘We never sleep’, and the agency was informally known as ‘The Eye’.
Private Eye is the title of a British satirical magazine, founded in 1962; some of its ironical euphemisms, such as Ugandan affairs and tired and emotional, have passed into the language. |
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Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "private eye." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "private eye." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-privateeye.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "private eye." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-privateeye.html |
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private eye
pri·vate eye • n. inf. a private investigator. |
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Cite this article
"private eye." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "private eye." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-privateeye.html "private eye." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-privateeye.html |
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