stonewall
to obstruct
TRANSLATION
stonewall = mauern, hindern, erschweren, aufhalten
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
An investigation into the layoffs of nearly 300 New Orleans-area professors was STONEWALLED this week when none of the university presidents would meet with the association conducting the probe.
New Orleans CityBusiness
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I want you to STONEWALL it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment*.
- former U.S. President Richard Nixon, recorded on the Watergate tapes
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*The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that no person "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself". Thus if someone is called to the witness stand in a court of law or before a congressional investigation, they can refuse to answer questions if they believe it might incriminate them. Currently there is speculation that Ghislaine Maxwell may plead the Fifth Amendment in an attempt to evade punishment by the U.S. criminal justice system.
Did you
know?
stonewall
verb
- to delay or block by refusing to answer questions or by giving evasive replies, especially in politics.
Compact Oxford English Dictionary
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WORD ORIGIN
The verb stonewall comes from the idea of a stone wall as an obstruction. It’s primarily used in the context of refusing to cooperate or to answer questions in an effort to delay something or keep the real truth about something from coming to light.
Stonewall also has a couple of interesting places in American history:
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Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He is most famous for his audacious Valley Campaign of 1862 and as a commander in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee.
Jackson acquired his famous nickname on the battlefield at First Manassas in 1861. It refers to his steadfastness in the face of the enemy. Jackson's courage inspired General Bernard Bee to shout to his troops, "Look men, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall! Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer!"
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The Stonewall Riots were series of violent confrontations between police and gay rights activists in New York City in June 1969. In response to the second raid in a week by police on the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village that was selling alcohol without a license, about 1,000 transvestites, gays, and lesbians taunted police and threw debris. The police responded with violence.
Similar riots occurred on succeeding nights and were followed by protest rallies. The event marked the awakening of gay rights organisations throughout the U.S. It is commemorated annually in Gay and Lesbian Pride Week. In 1999 the U.S. National Park Service placed the Stonewall Inn on the National Register of Historic Places.
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SYNONYMS
block, delay, hamper, hinder, hold up, impede, interfere, obstruct, stall, stymie, thwart
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ANTONYMS
clear, facilitate, free, help, open, unblock
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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation
say something like:
"Many Europeans are shaking their heads at the STONEWALLING tactics employed by US lawyers to protect conspicuously guilty clients."
