Zebra - Wordsmith.org

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Doing a Crossword today I was given the clue "Slang word for a whistle-blower."
The answer was zebra.
Never heard that before and really can't determine a connection between zebra and whistle-blower!
Would you all clear this up for me? Please?
(P.S. Outrageous replies are looked for eagerly

)

That means that people who aren't careful, such as when they're in a zebra crossing, are gonna get run down.

Quote:

That means that people who aren't careful, such as when they're in a zebra crossing, are gonna get run down.

!!

Or that a zebra's stripes will call your attention anywhere... ok, 'cept possibly in the savannah and on Jackie's zebra crossing...

in sports, a zebra is an official who carries a whistle and wears a striped shirt; in corporate affairs, a whistle-blower is one who reveals something covert or who informs against another

the clue is a typical crossword ploy to get you thinking in the wrong way, about the latter, when the former is what's really meant.

Being a crossword junky I was always wondering about it myself. Could've never made the connection... till now.

Tsu: You have no doubt made the connection. A quick Googling however suggests that it's very tenuous; that is, "zebra" is not widely considered a synonym for corporate whistleblower. Nonetheless I get some eleven thousand hits for "zerbra" with "whistle-blower" but I just don't have the patience to pursue this approach

dale, re-read tsuwm's answer. he is saying that the whole "whistle-blower as a corporate thing" idea is a feint, that you need to ignore that and stick with the simple concept of referee-zebra.

oops

This is why I don't do the cryptics. Even when I cheat and read the answers I don't get it.

Dang, tsuwm, how the heck do you know so much about something as boring as sports? [poking the borax e]

Quote:

Dang, tsuwm, how the heck do you know so much about something as boring as sports? [poking the borax e]

But it's such a great source of worthless words.

>how the heck do you know so much about something as boring as sports?

apropos to this, in a totally unrelated way, I heard a sports guy say this earlier this evening:

Y'all can't do a nativity scene; y'all can't find three wisemen and a virgin.

Quote:

Y'all can't do a nativity scene; y'all can't find three wisemen and a virgin.

Heh�.

I remember this as an old Univ of Ga vs Univ of Ala joke. Glad it's still making the rounds -- what were the two teams, tsuwm?

And wow, my priestess, as for zebra: I'd never hear this before either but the 'referee' connection makes sense, after reading tsuwm's previous post.

>what were the two teams, tsuwm?

immaterial; it was a halftime show of a pro-bb game, during which they commented about most anyolthing but the game to hand. (It was a Charles Barkley line; I think he collects them. [see Nov. 7 quote])

Thank you all! And tsuwm, the referee connex makes sense in an oblique way which is about right for crosswords.
Sometimes I think the accent should be on the first half of the word when it comes to clues!
But keeps the brain active.