rallying, hey rube, shorten, shortener

Man’s Dying Words in Custody Become Rallying Cry

By MARC SANTORA 4:20 PM ET

Mourners of Eric Garner, who died on Staten Island after an officer apparently put him in a chokehold, said there were systemic problems between residents and the police.

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hey rube (hay roob)

noun:
1. A fight between members of a circus and the general public.
2. A call to rally circus members in a fight.

Etymology
The term originated in the 19th century when circuses were rowdy affairs and "Hey Rube" was the rallying cry to call all circus people to help in a fight with townspeople. It's not clear whether Rube in this term was someone specific or simply a use of the informal term rube (shortened form of Reuben) for an unsophisticated person from a rural area. Earliest documented use: 1882.

Usage
"I said 'Shut it, Camel! I'm dealing with a situation here.' Walter says. 'What kind of situation?' says Camel. 'Jacob 's messed up.' 'What? How? Was there a hey rube?" — Sara Gruen; Water for Elephants; Algonquin Books; 2006. http://amazon.com/o/asin/1565124995/ws00-20 "'Hey, Rube,' they would yell. Roustabouts would soon be beating on the trouble-maker." — Bill Conlin; Phillies GM Amaro is Master of the Shell Game; The Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Dec 17, 2009.

Definition of shorten

verb

• 1make or become shorter: [with object]:he shortened his stride patients whose waiting time had been shortened [no object]:as skirts shortened, so heels rose around mid September, days shorten and temperatures dip
• (with reference to gambling odds) make or become shorter; decrease: [with object]:Ladbrokes shortened Nashwan’s odds from 2-1 to 7-4 [no object]:the odds had shortened to 14-1
• [with object] Prosody & Phonetics make (a vowel or syllable) short: the preceding vowels are shortened

2 [with object] Sailing reduce the amount of (sail spread): before sail could be shortened she went on to her beam ends

rallying

Line breaks: rally|ing

Pronunciation: /ˈraliɪŋ 

  

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NOUN

[MASS NOUN]

1The action or process of coming together to support a person or cause:the rallying of ethnic minorities to form a new opposition party

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2The sport or action of participating in a motor rally:established names in international rallying

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ADJECTIVE

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Having the effect of calling people to action:a rallying cry

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