A figure of speech as a replacement of 'evidence' or 'proof'

Question

I'm not sure if it's an idiom, but I think it's like a person's name, that implies 'proof of guilt', or 'evidence to prove one is guilty'. I've heard it on many police shows.

"We have her ______, it's all we need to prove she did it.

It would be a "synonym" for a 'smoking gun'.

Just to clarify, isn't evidence or proof (if put in that blank), already enough to 'prove she did it' (the 2nd part of the sentence? So as to not be redundant, aren't you looking for something other than proof? Like maybe motive or lack of alibi or means or opportunity? — Mitch, Dec 24 '20 at 16:19

Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-24T18:43:21.033

7

dead to rights

[UK bang to rights]

in the act of doing something wrong or illegal

Cambridge

: "Dead to rights" is seen from the 19th century on, and is used mostly, I believe, as a synonym for red-handed or in the act, or at least with positive evidence of guilt, as in "I caught him dead to rights," According to the OED it can also be used to mean "completely, certainly." [emphasis mine]

Phrase Finder

"We have her dead to rights, it's all we need to prove she did it.

edited Dec 24 '20 at 18:43

answered Dec 24 '20 at 16:14

Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_

20,777

None of these were an answer to my question, because I asked the wrong question. What I should of asked, is 'What is a name used in investigations, and legal missing person case?' The answer would have been John Doe, which is an idiom. – JaredWolf Dec 26 '20 at 19:00

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 24 '20 at 06:42

1

Are you looking for proof positive?

something which definitely shows that something else is true or correct : definite proof

The photograph is proof positive that the accident happened the way he described.

[Merriam-Webster]

answered Dec 24 '20 at 06:42

user405662

8,423

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 25 '20 at 05:24

Consider In flagrante

Also in flagrante delicto¹

(Latin: "in blazing offence") or sometimes simply in flagrante (Latin: "in blazing") is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare corpus delicti). The colloquial "caught red-handed" and "caught rapid" are English equivalents.

*We have her in flagrante, it’s all we need to prove she did it.

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¹ Wikipedia

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 25 '20 at 05:39

caught red-handed (or caught in the act), as defined by dictionary.com:

Also, catch in the act. Apprehend someone in the course of wrongdoing, as in The boys were trying to steal a car and the police caught them red-handed, or He tried to cheat on the exam, but his teacher walked in and caught him in the act. The first term referred to blood on a murderer's hands and originally signified only that crime. Later it was extended to any offense. The variant (catch in the act) is a translation of the Latin in flagrante delicto, part of the Roman code and long used in English law.

A figure of speech as a replacement of 'evidence' or 'proof'

4 Answers4