Narrative of a former American Spy

choi

Jeff Stein, What Makes a Perfect Spy Tick? Washington Post Sunday Magazine, Feb 12, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/li ... QAXWvL1Q_story.html


Note:
(1) Office of Strategic Services (1942-1945) was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Strategic_Services
(2)
(a) The "crackup" in "mental crackups" is a noun that means:
"1: CRASH, WRECK <an automobile crack–up>
2a : a mental collapse : NERVOUS BREAKDOWN <his wife's death brought on his crack–up>"
www.m-w.com

(b) crack up
(vt): "to damage or destroy (a vehicle) by crashing <crack up a car>"
(vi): "to damage or destroy a vehicle (as by losing control) <cracked up on a curve>"

(3) For chicory coffee, see chicory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory
(perennial herbaceous plant usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink; for roots which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive)

(a) Not to be confused with hickory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickory

Quote:

"Trees in the genus Carya (Ancient Greek for 'nut') are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam Province), 11 or 12 are from the United States, two to four are from Canada and four are found in Mexico.

"The nuts of some species are palatable, while others are bitter and only suitable for animal feed. Shagbark and shellbark hickory, along with pecan, are regarded by some as the finest nut trees.

(b) pecan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan
(Carya illinoinensis; is a species of hickory; native to south-central North America [see map])

(4) valise (n; French, from Italian valigia): "SUITCASE"
(5) piastre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piastre
(The term originates from the Italian for 'thin metal plate')
(6) National Clandestine Service
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Clandestine_Service
(is one of the four main components of the Central Intelligence Agency)

(6) hokey (adj; First Known Use 1927):
"1 CORNY <the usual hokey melodrama>
2: obviously contrived : PHONY <the plots are tricky but not hokey — Cleveland Amory>"
(7) The hold out" in "The CIA held out the promise that I didn’t have to sell shoes" is a transitive verb that means:
"to present as something realizable : PROFFER"