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Glite Dictionary
Dewey, Cheatem and Howe

Dewey, Cheatem and Howe

9.9
A joke name for a law firm that suggests dishonest lawyers
  • proper noun
  • Informal
: Dewey, Cheatem y Howe
  • Everyone knows that Dewey, Cheatem and Howe is not a real law firm.

Examples

  • Their sketch featured the infamous law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe representing a client.

  • I heard you hired Dewey, Cheatem and Howe for your case!

  • The comedian joked that he got all his legal advice from Dewey, Cheatem and Howe.

  • Whenever someone mentioned hiring a lawyer, he would suggest Dewey, Cheatem and Howe.

  • The comedian joked that he got all his legal advice from Dewey, Cheatem and Howe.

  • Their sketch featured the infamous law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe representing a client.

  • Whenever someone mentioned hiring a lawyer, he would suggest Dewey, Cheatem and Howe.

Synonyms

Sue, Grabbit and Runne
vsDewey, Cheatem and Howe
  • Archaic
9.9

A business that tries to get money quickly in dishonest ways

shows deliberate trickery and dishonesty specifically by legal professionals

Surface Forms

Dewey, Cheatem and Howe main

Morphology

Dewey, + Cheatem + and + Howe

The phrase is a joking string of fictional surnames plus 'and', so knowing the constituents (two non-lexical names and the conjunction) gives no clue that it signals dishonest lawyers. The humor depends on a phonetic pun and cultural/legal stereotype rather than compositional meaning, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not predict the idiomatic sense.

Etymology

Dewey, Cheatem and Howe is a joke name that plays on sound: the three names Dewey, Cheatem and Howe together sound like the question 'Do we cheat 'em, and how'. Because of that image, people use the name to jokingly say a law firm is dishonest.