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Comment by devindotcom | Hacker News Reader

I disagree. ratfuck is a specific term, not just a general pejorative. and I think class traitor is appropriate here as well. but i get what you're saying. that's the result, pro and con, of the shift away from edited journalism to stuff like ed's newsletter.

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I had to look this up — I've never heard it used in Britain.

> Ratfucking is an American slang term for behind the scenes (covert) political sabotage or dirty tricks, particularly pertaining to elections

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratfucking

Interesting. In the (US) military, we used this term to describe someone who breaks into the MRE stash and steals all the good stuff, leaving horrid creations like cheese and veggie omelette.

“Private Johnson got caught ratfucking the MREs while everyone was doing PT” etc etc

I've always used it as a variant of chicken fucker

Whoa, I had no idea it was an actual term that’s applicable here. I thought the author was just creatively insulting the guy.

TIL ratfucker actually means something relevant to the context of the article.

I think you worded my feelings much better than I did. This is a fiery op-ed from a personal blog and not polished journalism, so I should expect some individualism on writing tone.

indeed. “ratfucker sam” is someone employed by billionaire Logan Roy in the hbo show succession:

> Tom (to Greg): “You're asking about the moral character of a guy named Rat-Fucker Sam? He's a fucking piece of fucking shit!”

He’s a suit with a laptop sitting in Logan’s private jet.

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