Questions About The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

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Why does the author, Cliff Stoll, choose to use "bailiwick" instead of "ball of wax"? He's used "bailiwick" 3 times already and I'm only 1/2 way through. It's fun to look up new (old) words, and learn the etymology. Google's ngram viewer shows that it occurs the most in 1810 (yes 107 years ago), whereas "ball of wax" was popular in 1810, 1830, then grew in popularity from 1950 to the present.

Karson It's US national security establishment lingo. People use it relatively frequently in the DC world when talking about what is or is not in their area …moreIt's US national security establishment lingo. People use it relatively frequently in the DC world when talking about what is or is not in their area of expertise or authority (which are naturally things people in that world talk about a lot). If I remember correctly, the word shows up in Stoll's book almost entirely in quotations from spooks.(less)

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