A Simple Explanation Of American Politics — Look For Skeletons In The Closet
Idioms enrich a language by adding color and clarity. Let’s look at how they spice up politics
An idiom is an expression for which its meaning can not be determined by the literal meaning of the words that make up the expression. Such phrases often have curious origins.
For those who find American politics confusing, let me explain.
Lines have been drawn in the sand. Candidates for each party have been selected and are preparing to get out on the stump. Each contestant wants to glisten in the sunlight and avoid shooting themselves in the foot. Everyone will be searching for an opponent’s skeletons in the closet. A candidate will tell voters they’re not afraid to take the bull by the horns and hope they are not grabbing a tiger by the tail. When all is said and done in the November elections, each winner will be able to put a feather in their cap.
Republicans and Democrats have drawn their lines in the sand.
Drawing lines in the sand means that someone has reached a decision and is prepared to defend it. In the case of politicians, a fundamental belief on policies to institute if elected would be the lines drawn in the sand.
Historically, there are a lot of references to drawing lines in the sand. Wikipedia cites multiple references.
As a lifelong Texan, I am drawn to the story of the defense of the Alamo in San Antonio. The commander of the Alamo, Col. William Travis, called the defenders together to explain their dire position. The Texans had between 200 and 300 defenders against a Mexican army of upwards of 3000 troops. When Col. Travis learned no reinforcements would come, and the Mexican President and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had declared he would take no prisoners, Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword. He then invited the garrison members to join him across the line to defend the mission to their death. All but one of the defenders joined him. (History.com). The Alamo fell to the Mexican army on March 6, 1836. The time Santa Anna spent assaulting the Alamo allowed Texas general Sam Houston to gather his forces and defeat Santa Anna six weeks later.
The worst part of running for office is stumping through nowhere Texas.
To get on the stump is both a figurative and literal expression in American English. It refers to the process of campaigning and giving speeches as candidates are running for political office. It dates back to the earliest days of the United States, when campaigning was done by visiting rural communities by horseback or carriage.
A candidate would arrive in a village or town. He then would stand on a convenient stump to be seen and heard by the populace. (etymonline.com)
You want to glisten in the sunlight when you are on the debate stage.
To glisten in the sunlight means to appear clean without defects or faults. I’ve been unable to find documented origins of the expression. My experience with glistening in the sunlight comes from the days I was a real estate broker. When we presented the buyer to a mortgage loan officer, we wanted the buyers to have perfect credit, solid references, and a stable income source. We wanted them to glisten in the sunlight.
Never stand in the way of your opponent shooting himself in the foot.
Grammarist.com says, “To shoot oneself in the foot means sabotaging oneself, making a silly mistake that harms yourself in some fashion.” The origin comes from World War I, in which soldiers might have “accidentally” shot themselves in the foot, thus earning a trip to the hospital or home rather than going to the front lines.
If you seek to discredit your opponent, finding a skeleton in the closet is the best way.
A skeleton in the closet is a dark secret that would bring shame or distrust if it is found out. An example would be if a U.S. Congressman were running on a family values platform and the press found out he had a mistress. The mistress would be the skeleton in the closet.
Phrases.org.uk reports this expression dates back to England in the 1800s. A symbolic reference can be found in a monthly periodical, “The Eclectic Review,” in 1816 by William Hendry Stowell, “The dread of being the cause of misery to posterity has prevailed over men to conceal the skeleton in the closet….”
American author, Edgar Allen Poe, wrote of a body hidden behind a wall in “The Black Cat,” 1845.
Although phrases.org.uk discredits the origin of pre-1832 doctors hiding skeletons in their closets to teach anatomy, I think it is entirely possible. (phrases.org.uk)
A challenger should take the bull by the horns to beat an incumbent.
For a new politician to beat an incumbent officeholder, the challenger often will take the bull by the horns to show leadership and the ability to deal with complex problems. To take the bull by the horns means confronting a challenging situation and attempting to resolve it.
The origin of this phrase is murky, although all sources say it originates in the USA. Grammarist.com reports that the term has been used since the 1700s but does not cite examples. Onestopenglish.com suggests it originated in the American West. In the American sport of Rodeo, there is an event called Steer Wrestling or Bulldogging. A horse-mounted cowboy “chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by grabbing its horns and pulling it off-balance so that it falls to the ground.” (wikipedia.com) (grammarist.com) (Tim Brown — onestopenglish.com)
A candidate wants to latch onto an issue that resonates with the voters but avoid grabbing a tiger by the tail.
The meaning of grabbing or catching a tiger by the tail is now that you’ve got it, what are you going to do with it. If you were to catch a tiger by the tail, the tiger may turn on you at any moment and eat you. In American politics, a candidate would want to avoid identifying with a position on an issue that later becomes an embarrassment.
The expression has a tiger by the tail is derived from a Chinese proverb: ‘He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.’ This aphorism was translated into English in the 1870s.” (grammarist.com)
Beating the incumbent representative was an achievement to be celebrated. It was indeed worthy of putting a feather in one’s cap.
To put a feather in one’s cap means to make a note of achievement. The origin of the expression appears to date back to the middle 1700s. An American song prevalent in the British colonies, Yankee Doodle Dandy, has a verse in which the phrase is used, “Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony; he stuck a feather in his cap, and called it macaroni.” (grammarist.com)
Wikipedia.com reports warriors of many cultures would add a feather to one’s headband or hat for each opponent killed. It is also typical for hunters to take a feather of game killed.
A side note: The tune to Yankee Doodle Dandy is sometimes attributed to an Irish folk song that was well known by the 1750s. Supposedly, a British doctor, Richard Schuckburg, penned new lyrics to the tune to make fun of the Americans. His lyrics described colonists “as rude, crude, and cowardly. In the song, Schuckberg referred to the American fighter as both a ‘doodle”’— a country hick, and a ‘dandy’— a conceited jerk.”
The story of how Yankee Doodle Dandy became a song favored by the American revolutionary army is that the British military sang it on their march to Lexington and Concord. The British army was the best armed and trained army of their time. Confidence was not lacking in their ranks. After destroying the arms they discovered in and along the way to Concord, they had to make their way back to Boston.
Colonists alerted to the British threat swarmed to the road with their hunting muskets. The Americans easily picked off the redcoats from concealed positions one by one. The well-disciplined British march back to Boston soon turned into a chaotic retreat as soldiers fled for their lives. Yankee Doodle Dandy became an unofficial American anthem to remind the British of their costly tactical errors. (kennedy-center.org)
Takeaway
Now you know what each of the idioms in the introductory paragraph means. So now you have a simple explanation of American politics.
If there are idioms for which you’d like a description or origins, please put them in the responses, and I’ll do my best to research them for you.
Copyright 2022 Harold Zeitung All Rights Reserved
Disclosure: This story has been edited by Grammarly.com
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