Coming To A Head

When things are "coming to a head," a confrontation or point of crisis is being reached, usually after a long period of build-up.

Example: "Canada Post's urban workers could go on strike late Thursday night if the Crown corporation declines to accept its latest offer, as seven months of heated negotiations between the two sides appears ready to come to a head."

That is, at the time this story was written, the two sides had not "sealed the deal" (reached an agreement successfully); rather, a strike has been called, and Canada's postal workers were set to go on strike within days.

Turkeys Voting for Christmas

Turkey is a traditional Christmas holiday meal in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. No one asks turkey birds themselves whether they believe Christmas is a good thing. If anyone was to put Christmas to a vote among turkeys, it is strongly assumed turkeys would vote Christmas out of existence.

This silly scenario gives rise to the idiom, "Turkeys voting for Christmas." In other words, this is an idiom for people voting against their own best interests, individually and as a group. This is usually brought up in the context of how people, as a rule, don't vote for something obviously against their own interests.

Example: "From the sublime to the ridiculous, Greek newspaper reports have it that Prime Minister George Papandreou has threatened to call a referendum on the austerity measures if he cannot secure political agreement. The story has been denied, but it demonstrates how desperate the situation has become. Mr Papandreou is in such a fix that he was thinking of relying on the idea that turkeys really would vote for Christmas." Original link here.

We are expected to take from this paragraph that Greek voters cannot be seriously expected to vote for more austerity measures (budget cuts, cuts in benefits to government employees, and so forth) to please the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and so forth. (Also note that "in such a fix" means in a desperate situation, i.e. a political stalemate with opposition parties.)

Put simpler, we can assume turkeys would not really vote in favor of Christmas, and that Greeks would not really vote in favor of more austerity, if either group was allowed a vote.

Sound Bites

In journalism, a sound bite is a short clip of audio from an event that is the subject of a news report. A bite is, idiomatically, a small and digestible thing.

In politics, a sound bite is an excerpt of a speech that is used without surrounding context. Politicians intend for sound bites to give flattering portrayals of their speeches, and themselves, and are a core part of one's image in the media.

Example: "Professional speech-writers for presidents and other high public officials are careful to include specific sound bites that the media will use to highlight their speeches."

A careful reader may realize that the same phrase may be a sound bite in both the literal and the figurative senses. They're different things to different people.

Since politicians know in advance that reporters will largely reduce a speech to its sound bites, and at any rate, sound bites offer the politician's best opportunities to actually have their voices and faces broadcast on TV or radio, politicians "offer" sound bites to the media as if it is a familiar religious ritual. Understanding what a sound bite is, and the context that comes with it, is important to understanding even basic stories about journalism and politics in the English-speaking world.

Draconian

The adjective "draconian" is an idiom for particularly harsh laws. It is a reference to Draco, the legislator (in this instance, the writer of written laws) in ancient Athens in the 7th century B.C.

Example: "The disgraced banker was dramatically granted bail last night under draconian conditions as it emerged he will face a trial for his alleged sex attack on a hotel maid."

Draco's laws put lower class debtors into slavery, and the penalty for even minor offenses was death. When asked why, he replied that he could think of no lesser punishment for the minor crimes, and unfortunately, he did not have any greater punishment available for the greater crimes. (!) So yes, Draco was not playing around.

In this context, the use of "draconian" in the example above evokes the phrase, in the American constitution, cruel and unusual punishment, but the word can be used to exaggerate circumstances. (This writer believes that the above use is stretching the word very thin, but it is an example of how English writers will use the word. - J)

Bearing The Brunt

The "brunt" of an impact or blow is the principle or main part of it; most of the force and damage of a blow or attack. To "bear" this is to sustain it, to be the target of it.

Example: "Banking stocks bore the brunt of today's damage on Wall Street, with retailers suffering relatively mild losses." (Here, the idiom is in the past tense)

In this example, the damage is purely financial, but this idiom can be used for politics, war, or any other situation where violent forces - literal and figurative - are at work. A particular street can bear the brunt of a tornado, for example.

Striking Out

Drawn from baseball, "to strike out" is to completely fail at something, including missing an opportunity for success. It is frequently used in business and politics.

In accordance with normal rules of grammar, "striking out" (present) and "struck out" (past) are used, and share the exact same meaning (aside from verb tense).

Example: "Pfizer struck out on getting FDA approval for X drug, so it has been taking it on the chin on the stock market."

This is not a real quote, but is an example. Here, striking out means failed to get Food and Drug Administration approval for an unnamed drug. Approval is necessary for legal sale of a drug within the United States.

Taking It On The Chin

The idiomatic expression "taking it on the chin" refers to a bar brawl or other forms of fist-fighting, where being hit by a punch on the chin is a common occurrence. It carries the same meaning as "taking a beating," which is an expression but not an idiom. However, the beating may be, for example, a political or electoral beating.

Example: The headline for the May 03 2011 edition of The Chronicle-Herald, the main newspaper of Nova Scotia, Canada (oldest newspaper on the North American continent), was, "Liberals take it on the chin," referring to the historic election defeat suffered by the Liberal Party of Canada on the preceding day.

The same sense can be used in business situations. Example: "Sony took it on the chin on the stock market today as a result of continued questions concerning the large Playstation Network customer data breach." (This is not an actual quote but represents the use of the idiom.)

A Paper Tiger

A paper tiger is an expression drawn from a Chinese saying. A paper tiger may pose in a threatening way, but it is actually completely harmless.

A native English expression with a similar meaning is "its bark is worse than its bite," referring to dogs.

Example: Asian politicians and leaders such as Mao Zedong have sometimes referred to the United States as "a paper tiger," describing it as far more menacing in abstract than it would be in reality. Of course, using this description was itself a great deal of political posturing.

Actual paper tigers can be made using origami.

Slashing A Budget

A slash is a swift, violent cut. As a result of being swift and violent, the wound created by a slash is longer and deeper than a shallow surface cut. To slash has therefore come to mean making deep cuts.

It is in this sense that we use it in the expression, slashing a budget. That is, rather than making small cuts, or gradual cuts, slashing a budget means making deep, dramatic cuts, ones that affect the near future greatly.

The noun form would be a budget slash (singular) or budget slashes (plural).

Example: On January 6, 2011, the Internet news portal The Drudge Report characterized this article on Pentagon spending cuts that would result in a reduction of U.S. active duty military troops as "Pentagon Budget Slash: Obama To Cut Troops On Active Duty". As is customary with this tabloid-like news site, the headline is intended to dramatize; after all, instead of "budget cut" we have "budget slash," implying a violent, damaging process.

Whether this characterization is accurate or not, this is how the writer wishes us to read and understand his headline. In that context, this is a good example of how "slashing" is used in a budgetary context.

Budget Cuts

To cut a budget means to eliminate (cut) spending from a budget. The items being eliminated are "cut out" of the budget.

Example: Mary was spending more on food than she should have, so she cut an expensive brand of ice cream out of her budget. By reducing a luxury, she was able to bring her food expenses budget into line.

The noun forms represent the act of cutting a budget. Singular: a budget cut. Plural: budget cuts. 

A Lame Duck

In politics, and sometimes business, someone in a powerful position who everyone knows will be leaving office at a particular time, but who is still in office, is called a lame duck. This is "lame" not in the sense of uncool, but in the sense of powerless due to injury.

In other words, the lame duck is unable to exert power over others because the knowledge he or she will be departing - and therefore, has less and less power to punish others for defiance with each day that passes - reduces the psychological and leadership power of that person.

Note that while being a lame duck is related to an impending departure, many people only call someone a lame duck when that person's power enters pronounced decline, a little like "jumping the shark."

Example: An American President in his second term eventually experiences an erosion in his ability to make Congress do what he wants, losing influence with even members of his own party. Due to strongly established tradition and the great difficulty of changing the constitution, the limit to two terms of four years is virtually unchangeable. Therefore, members of Congress know as a fact that the President will be departing. When the President reaches this point of limited influence, he begins to be called "a lame duck."

Also, the term "lame duck session" (relating to Congress) is a little different. This is the result of two accidents of the American system: 1) members being officially in office even after an election, until the following January (much like Presidents); 2) a modern habit of not completing budgetary business (in the trillions of dollars) within the normally scheduled time.

In 2010, legislating in the "lame duck session" between the November election and the end of 2010 reached new heights, with major pieces of legislation passed, although a giant budget bill was forced to be abandoned (and this is, I must point out, an extremely rare event). Some have questioned the propriety of legislators who have been voted out of office - and are thus "lame ducks" themselves - voting on issues of such importance, but this lack of consequences (they already lost!) has been used to great advantage by the Democratic Party in 2010.

Thus, the lame duck session is so called because departing Congressmen and Senators who are "lame ducks" are still able to use the full power of their offices... which is, again, a kind of accident of the American political system. Traditionally, they are not well regarded.

Arm-Twisting

Physically twisting someone's arm can be used as a means of intimidation or coercion. Due to this, figurative arm-twisting is a term used to include all non-physical coercion (also known as "pressure") to compel a person to do, or not do, something specific.

Example: The senator resisted heavy arm-twisting by special interest groups and voted for the budget package anyway.

This means, the senator resisted heavy (political) pressure and went ahead and voted as he originally intended.

Slogging One's Way

To slog one's way(or variations thereof) means to make difficult progress forward against significant resistance. To use this as an idiom is simply to apply it to things that are not physical.

Example: "Slowly, painfully and reluctantly, congressional Democrats are slogging their way toward acceptance of President Barack Obama's tax cut compromise, which would let rich and poor Americans keep Bush-era tax cuts that were scheduled to expire this month."


Here, "toward" is used because there is a specific figurative destination ("acceptance") rather than simply a direction, such as "ahead." (Which would then be "slogging their way ahead," but that is not what we see here.) 

Won Over

If someone has been won over, that person has been convinced.

In negotiations, someone who has been won over has been convinced to approve the deal.

Since this can only be truly explained in context, let's review today's earlier idioms with the passage below.

Example: President Barack Obama’s tax-cut deal likely will squeak through the Senate, according to congressional aides, propelled by a coalition of Republicans, moderate Democrats and members won over by last-minute tax sweeteners. 

Sweeteners

In food, a sweetener is something added to food to make it sweeter, like sugar or a sugar substitute. In politics and business, a sweetener for a deal is something added to make a deal more tolerable to individuals who must approve it.

A related term is palatable. This is a fancy word for "something you can eat without suffering," so you add a sweetener to a deal to make it palatable (not easier to eat, but easier to approve). Often, we say more palatable here (indicating the deal is more acceptable, rather than less).

Of course, if we want to say less palatable, we do.

Example: President Barack Obama’s tax-cut deal likely will squeak through the Senate, according to congressional aides, propelled by a coalition of Republicans, moderate Democrats and members won over by last-minute tax sweeteners.

Last-Minute

When used as an adjective, last-minute suggests occurring at the last minute, an expression for occurring very near to a deadline; very late in a process.

"At the last minute" is another form this takes as an expression, but remember, last-minute is an adjective.

Example: Last-minute additions to a contract. These are additions placed very near the end of a negotiation process.

Related: Eleventh-hour: Assumes a deadline of midnight. Something taking place very close to a deadline . Example: Eleventh-hour agreement.

Propelled By

When applied to politics, we speak of something propelled by X when we mean, something pushed forward by X. Synonyms:  driven by and driven forward by.

Example: "President Barack Obama’s tax-cut deal likely will squeak through the Senate, according to congressional aides, propelled by a coalition of Republicans, moderate Democrats and members won over by last-minute tax sweeteners."

An Odyssey

The Odyssey was one of Western civilization's first masterpieces of literature, composed by Homer, about the ten year voyage of Odysseus, a king who fought in the Trojan War. Suffice to say he offended a Greek god and was forced to take the long way home.

Borrowing from this original meaning, an odyssey is any long foreign trip.

Example: An upcoming trip to Asia by President Obama rumored to be lavishly expensive, worthy of Roman Emperors or Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, was referred to by the Drudge Report in this way:

Leaves Election Wreckage for 9-day Asian Odyssey...

The true expense of the voyage, er, trip, is unknown.  

A Voice In The Wilderness

A voice in the wilderness is someone who expresses an unpopular opinion.


Example: "For years, she was a voice in the wilderness about the need for government reform. Only recently has her agenda become part of the mainstream."

In The Wilderness

American politics uses "the wilderness" as a Biblical reference. Someone who is in the wilderness is an outcast, a nomad, someone without a seat in a place of power.

In practice, it is used to mean a politician or party lacking the power or influence normally due.

Example: "The Senator spent several years in the political wilderness after having made comments that offended members of a major religion. Only recently has he come back in favor."

In this sense, someone who is in the wilderness is like someone who is in the dog house.