Wetwork

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Wetwork (Template:Langx)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> is a euphemism for murder or assassination that alludes to spilling blood.<ref>wet work. Definition on Merriam-Webster (accessed Feb 2024)</ref> The expression and the similar wet job, wet affair, or wet operation are all calques of Russian terms for such activities and can be traced to criminal slang from at least the 19th century<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and originally meant robbery that involved murder or the spilling of blood.

The operations are reputed to have been handled by the CIA and by the KGB's SpecBureau 13 (Spets Byuro 13), known as the "Department of Wet Affairs" (Template:Transliteration).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref> Template:Citation</ref>

See also

• Black operation
• I Heard You Paint Houses (the titular euphemism similarly refers to a hitman)
  • According to Frank Sheeran, the first conversation he had with Jimmy Hoffa over the phone, where Hoffa started by saying, "I heard you paint houses"—a mob code meaning: I heard you kill people, the "paint" being the blood spatter from the gunshot.<ref name=":0" />

External links

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