Jostle: to make one’s way by pushing or shoving: not Latin, probably from French for “joust”

Jostle

In 1970, Joseph Duffy was the Democratic candidate for the Senate in Connecticut. He had the endorsement of a Yale Law student, William Clinton. More importantly, for campaign purposes, he had the endorsement of Connecticut resident, actor and heartthrob, Paul Newman. Mr. Duffy tended to attract substantial crowds at campaign events, especially those where Mr. Newman appeared with him.

Susan U was an attendee at one such event. She dressed appropriately, and even went the extra mile and wore a blonde wig. Her husband accompanied her, perhaps to ensure that she would come home. As the crowd pushed toward the center of attention, Sue managed to jostle her way to the front. At that point, her spouse lost patience and called out “touch him so we can leave.” Mr. Newman heard the comment, turned in the spouse’s direction and said “You, sir, are an ass.” At the same moment, movement in the crowd dislodged Sue’s wig and a photographer from a local paper caught her, wig askew – it made the paper the next day.

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