who shot John

Etymology
First attested in the 1860s as a game among students at British military academies; in later use, chiefly US.

Noun

 * 1)  Long and involved explanation, finger-pointing, or assignment of credit or blame.
 * 2) * 1979, Mr. Morris, quoted in Reauthorization of programs under the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979 : hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, United States General Printing Office, page 17,
 * I really do not think it is appropriate to come up here and present to this committee or to the Congress the "who shot John" processes by which the President makes decisions.
 * 1) * 1986 December 21,, "On Language", , Sect. 6, pg. 6:
 * NOBODY REALLY cares who shot John. That's because who shot John is inherently dismissive, always used in the sense of a question that the speaker is not about to answer because it involves loathsome finger-pointing, unworthy of the fair-minded.
 * 1) * 1987 May 13, Ms. Gradison, quoted in The Clayton Act Amendments of 1987 (railroad antitrust immunity) : hearing before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Monopolies, and Business Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, United States General Printing Office, page 88,
 * Senator DeConcini. You may not be able to comment on some pending cases, but I am aware of an Arizona electric case filed in 1981 which is still pending.
 * Ms. Gradision. Yes, sir. And I thought that might come up, so I brought the who-shot-John on it.
 * 1) * 2004, Thomas Friedman, quoted in International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East Staff, Role of Civil Society in Promoting a Just And Lasting Peace in the Middle East: An Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue, United Nations Publications, ISBN 9211009766, page 67,
 * That was the intervening event. I raise that not to start this whole who-shot-John-first, but to say that if we are going to talk about these events, we have to talk about them in the full and complete context.
 * 1)  Nonsense; rubbish.
 * 2)  Something bad; a mess.
 * 3)  Liquor, especially illegally made.
 * 1) * 2004, Thomas Friedman, quoted in International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East Staff, Role of Civil Society in Promoting a Just And Lasting Peace in the Middle East: An Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue, United Nations Publications, ISBN 9211009766, page 67,
 * That was the intervening event. I raise that not to start this whole who-shot-John-first, but to say that if we are going to talk about these events, we have to talk about them in the full and complete context.
 * 1)  Nonsense; rubbish.
 * 2)  Something bad; a mess.
 * 3)  Liquor, especially illegally made.
 * 1)  Something bad; a mess.
 * 2)  Liquor, especially illegally made.
 * 1)  Something bad; a mess.
 * 2)  Liquor, especially illegally made.
 * 1)  Liquor, especially illegally made.
 * 1)  Liquor, especially illegally made.

Synonyms

 * hooch, moonshine

Hypernyms

 * bootleg