Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2022 May 11

= May 11 =

Ovechkin and Varlamov in a commercial
Hi, what do Alex and Semyon say in this commercial in Russian? As in, write down their dialogue in русский, please. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.252.229.64 (talk) 22:29, 11 May 2022 (UTC)


 * «Пронесло́!» (Pronesló!)
 * «Да́ уж, чуть не спали́ли.» (Dá už, čutʹ ne spalíli.). 98.170.164.88 (talk) 09:53, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Brilliant, thanks. 88.207.56.95 (talk) 03:51, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Early usage or origin of phrase "reputation laundering"
Hi. I'm looking for early uses of the phrase "reputation laundering" ... ideally the first uses or invention of the phrase.

Does anyone have access to the OED? They may have data about the first usage.

I've got lots of recent usages of the phrase (2018 to 2022) but I'm interested in the first uses ... who coined the term?

Thanks! Noleander (talk) 23:34, 11 May 2022 (UTC)


 * The OED Online has no entry for "reputation laundering" as a phrase, and the phrase does not come up in examples cited for any words in the dictionary. Also, neither of the two words comes up in the definitions given, or the examples cited, for the other word.


 * However, under the relevant basic sense of "launder" ("To transfer funds of dubious or illegal origin, usually to a foreign country, and then later to recover them from what seem to be 'clean' (i.e. legitimate) sources") it notes "Also transferred" that extended uses occur. And in the 1997 draft additions, they add a sub-sense "figurative. To treat or process (something) so as to make it acceptable; to make expedient (and often unscrupulous) alterations or improvements to; spec. to lower (a mileometer reading) when selling a second-hand car" with 6 examples from 1961 to 1991.  The first 5 of these refer to grammar, used-car mileage, political philosophy, used-car mileage again, and political speech; but the 6th one, from 1991, reads: "He had also managed to expunge any paper trace of Herrick Hubbard's presence in the Snake Pit... My immediate past had been effectively laundered."  This is from Norman Mailer's novel Harlot's Ghost, and while it doesn't use the exact phrase "reputation laundering", it clearly uses "launder" with the same meaning. --184.144.97.125 (talk) 00:24, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks so much for the info! Noleander (talk) 01:45, 12 May 2022 (UTC)


 * The Google Ngram is zero until 1980: . Btw, WP:WHAAOE: Reputation laundering. 2603:6081:1C00:1187:CCA9:863B:1DDC:8ABE (talk) 04:28, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Ah cool, that is an important fact. I guess there is no way to find those 1980 web sites that used the phrase?  Noleander (talk) 17:48, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Nevermind ... I figured out a way to use Google to get some of the older usages. Noleander (talk) 18:03, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Google Ngrams Viewer counts usage in printed books, not on web sites. In any case, there were no web sites in 1980, since the Web came into existence in the early 1990s. CodeTalker (talk) 23:42, 12 May 2022 (UTC)