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J01

Words and Their Stories -- a program about special American expressions. American English like every language is full of idioms, and idiom is a special way of saying something. Idioms are sometimes called slang or vernacular expressions or colloquialisms. They are as difficult to explain as life itself. That, in a sense, is what they really are: the living flesh of language -- living tissue created by the heart pulse and blood stream of a people.

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J02

One such expression, "to stonewall it," has suddenly burst anew into life and gained wide popularity across the United States. It was given its new birth in the White House by former President Richard M. Nixon. He made the phrase nationally famous. Millions of Americans heard on television or read in the newspapers how he had advised his aides to stonewall it so that Federal Investigators would not discover the whole truth about some of their activities. These men close to the President were suspected of being involved in the Watergate Affair. They were accused of planning or trying to cover up illegal activities before and during the 1972 presidential election. These included breaking into the Democratic Party's National Committee's Headquarters at the Watergate apartments. The White House effort to stonewall it was not successful. It finally led to President Nixon's resignation, and jail sentences for some of his aides.

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J03

The word, "stonewall," can be found in any American dictionary although it has not often been used in this country. The word comes from the game of cricket to describe a man who has decided to keep his play defensive, just blocking balls without trying to score runs.

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J04

The phrase somehow slipped into political use by Australian and British politicians. This happened sometime around the 1880's. Some Australian politicians were bitterly criticized for making long speeches just to block or delay parliamentary business. "He is great at stonewalling tactics," said one member of Parliament about another. "He can talk against time by the hour." And one angry parliamentarian pointed his finger toward a fellow member and asked if the six men sitting beside him made up the stone wall that was organized to oppose all progress. 

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J05

Clearly the phrase was not meant to be pleasant; then few politicians liked to be called stonewallers, just as today few politicians enjoy being described as filibusterers. Although both are different, still they are closely related.

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J06

There was a time, however, when the word, "stonewall," had an honorable name. During the American Civil War, one of the great military leaders of the South was called "Stone-wall Jackson." This name was given to him because of his great courage. He was a man who refused to retreat under pressure but stood firm like a stone wall against the advancing troops of the North.

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J07

The Watergate Affair, however, has left a permanent stain on the meaning of stonewall. Two phrases that have come out of that tragic event are "to stonewall it" and the "coverup," and in the future both, it seems, will be used mostly to describe something dishonorable.

Voice of America

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