Wetwork

Wetwork or wet work is a euphemism for murder or assassination, alluding to hands literally wet with blood. It is most popularly attributed to the KGB and their broad euphemism for such activities, "mokroye delo" (wet job). [Henry S.A. Becket (1986) "The Dictionary of Espionage: Spookspeak into English"] There have been others however, who variously attribute it to the Mossad, the CIA and MI5.

Sometimes the term "wet boy" or "washer" is given to an agent involved in such work.Fact|date=August 2007 The term "cleaner" is also used.

The Russian expression "wet job" (мокрое дело) traces at least to 19th century [Музыка или словарь карманников, т. е. столичных воров [сост. в 1842, доп. Максимовым С. В. в 1869] // Сибирь и каторга / Максимов С. В. [публ.] . СПб., 1871 ru icon] [Дюбягин Ю. (1991) Толковый словарь уголовных жаргонов, Moscow, "Inter-Omni", ISBN 5-85945-002-8ru icon] from Russian criminal slang ("fenya", "muzyka") and originally meant robbery that involved murder.

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