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The phrase originally came from the idea that finding a very recently fired (hence smoking) gun on the person of a suspect wanted for shooting someone would in that situation be nearly unshakable proof of having committed the crime. A variant of the phrase (as "smoking pistol") is used in the
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In addition to this, its meaning has evolved in uses completely unrelated to criminal activity: for example, scientific evidence that is highly suggestive in favor of a particular hypothesis is sometimes called "smoking gun evidence".
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We rushed into the captain's cabin . . . there he lay with his brains smeared over the chart of the
Atlantic . . . while the chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his hand at his elbow.
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122:Nixon White House tapes § "Smoking Gun" tape
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58:. "Smoking gun" refers to the strongest kind of
52:or similar act, just short of being caught
16:Metaphor for conclusive evidence of an act
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237:Metaphors referring to war and violence
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144:Legal Argumentation and Evidence
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23:Smoking gun (disambiguation)
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66:. Direct evidence would be
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117:Incontrovertible evidence
141:Walton, Douglas (2010).
175:. The Way We Live Now.
60:circumstantial evidence
70:of someone who saw an
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112:Burden of proof (law)
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68:eyewitness testimony
55:in flagrante delicto
21:For other uses, see
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178:The New York Times
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181:. On Language
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42:smoking gun
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215:30 January
128:References
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73:actus reus
40:The term "
247:Evidence
106:See also
89:story, "
46:evidence
36:(1893).
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257:Smoke
185:6 May
50:crime
48:of a
217:2018
187:2015
149:ISBN
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
