whistle-blower
someone who makes illegal corporate activities public
TRANSLATION
whistle-blower = der Hinweisgeber, der Informant, der Tippgeber, Der Denunziant --- GOOGLE INDEX whistle-blower: approximately 3,500,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
A WHISTLE-BLOWER eventually revealed the massive systemic deception, which caused the company to collapse…
(The Guardian)
---
The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on the U.S. Congress to enact stronger protections for WHISTLEBLOWERS, especially those who work in the national security arena.
(www.aclu.org)
(The Guardian)
---
The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on the U.S. Congress to enact stronger protections for WHISTLEBLOWERS, especially those who work in the national security arena.
(www.aclu.org)
Did you
know?
whistle-blower (American English, whistleblower)
noun
- a person who tells someone in authority about something illegal that is happening, especially in a government department or a company
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Whistle-blower comes from the phrase to "blow the whistle on someone." Allen's English Phrases says it alludes to the act of blowing a whistle as a signal to end an activity, especially by a sports referee to bring play to a stop because a foul or penalty has occurred or at the end of a period of play. Some say that the phrase derives from the practice of English Bobbies who would blow a whistle as an alarm to signal that a crime is occurring or has occurred.
Two famous cases of whistle-blowing were made into movies:
- Frank Serpico was a New York City police officer in the '70s who refused to participate in corrupt police activities such as accepting bribes from drug dealers and gambling organizations or forcing businesses to pay for protection (called shaking down in street lingo). He eventually went undercover to help expose the corruption and testified before a New York City commission. He wrote a book about his experience that was made into a movie starring Al Pacino.
- Karen Silkwood was a labour union activist and chemical technician who mysteriously died in an automobile accident after exposing dangerous safety practices at the Kerr-McGee nuclear plant near Crescent, Oklahoma in the United States. Meryl Streep starred as Karen Silkwood in the movie that dramatised the events surrounding the case.
---
SYNONYMS
canary, deep throat, informant, source
*the synonyms below have a negative tone that characterise someone as a traitor:
betrayer, blabbermouth, double-crosser, fink, narc, rat, sneak, snitcher, squealer, stoolie, stool pigeon, tattler, tattletale, tipster, turncoat, weasel
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO YOUR CONVERSATION TODAY
say something like:
"I heard that a whistle-blower has informed the local newspaper about members of the town council accepting money from building contractors."
noun
- a person who tells someone in authority about something illegal that is happening, especially in a government department or a company
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Whistle-blower comes from the phrase to "blow the whistle on someone." Allen's English Phrases says it alludes to the act of blowing a whistle as a signal to end an activity, especially by a sports referee to bring play to a stop because a foul or penalty has occurred or at the end of a period of play. Some say that the phrase derives from the practice of English Bobbies who would blow a whistle as an alarm to signal that a crime is occurring or has occurred.
Two famous cases of whistle-blowing were made into movies:
- Frank Serpico was a New York City police officer in the '70s who refused to participate in corrupt police activities such as accepting bribes from drug dealers and gambling organizations or forcing businesses to pay for protection (called shaking down in street lingo). He eventually went undercover to help expose the corruption and testified before a New York City commission. He wrote a book about his experience that was made into a movie starring Al Pacino.
- Karen Silkwood was a labour union activist and chemical technician who mysteriously died in an automobile accident after exposing dangerous safety practices at the Kerr-McGee nuclear plant near Crescent, Oklahoma in the United States. Meryl Streep starred as Karen Silkwood in the movie that dramatised the events surrounding the case.
---
SYNONYMS
canary, deep throat, informant, source
*the synonyms below have a negative tone that characterise someone as a traitor:
betrayer, blabbermouth, double-crosser, fink, narc, rat, sneak, snitcher, squealer, stoolie, stool pigeon, tattler, tattletale, tipster, turncoat, weasel
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO YOUR CONVERSATION TODAY
say something like:
"I heard that a whistle-blower has informed the local newspaper about members of the town council accepting money from building contractors."
