AS IT IS 2015-12-28 Political Idioms: What Did He Say?

AS IT IS 2015-12-28 Political Idioms: What Did He Say?

Republican presidential candidates debated in Las Vegas, Nevada for the final time this year.

During debates -- and when they speak to reporters, supporters, aides and others -- candidates often use interesting words, phrases and expressions. In most cases, only speakers of American English can understand what these “idioms” mean.

Idioms are “expressions that have a different meaning from the meaning of the individual words that make up the idiom.”

American political idioms can be confusing to speakers of other languages. They can even be confusing to Americans who are not familiar with the ways political candidates speak!

Today, we present more of these idiomatic¹ expressions and their meanings. You may find it useful to keep this list to refer to as you read reports about the presidential campaign.

Many of the definitions in this report came from LearnersDictionary.com

What does he bring to the table? – what qualities does she have that will benefit the situation or us? How can he help us?

A reporter may want to know about a candidate’s experience or education and may ask, “What do you bring to the table?” A coach tells a reporter that he believes his current team could be the best he has ever had. He says of the players: “What they bring to the table that makes us such a good team is that they have no ego². What they bring to the table that makes us such a high scoring team is…”

Take options off the table – to remove issues from a negotiation³ that were at one time being considered.

For example, a broadcaster reported that Congress was taking some Social Security payment “options off the table.”

He’s only got one shot – having only one chance to achieve a goal.

A local official considering a plan to improve roads might say: “This is a big project, and we’ve only got one shot to get it right.”

Go the distance – to carry through a course of action to completion; to continue to do something until it is successfully completed; to do the whole amount; to play the entire game; to run the race until the end.

Political reporters often ask if a candidate has enough money, energy and support to finish a campaign: “Can she go the distance or will she run out of money halfway⁴ through?”

In the mix – included as part of a group; being considered.

A newspaper headline wondered if a local team was “in the mix” for a championship.

Gain traction⁵ – the support or interest that is needed for something to succeed or make progress.

When a bill fails to gain traction in the Senate, it does not pass.

Political expediency⁶ – often negative providing an easy and quick way to solve a problem or do something.

A candidate might ask his opponent to do the right thing, not the politically expedient⁷ thing.

Stack the deck – to arrange things against someone or something; to arrange things secretly for a desired outcome; to arrange something in a way that is not fair in order to achieve what you want; to arrange something so that it is unfair to someone.

Some candidates complain that the way a debate is designed hurts them. They may complain that the debate organizers have “stacked the deck” against them. 

Stand your ground – to not change your position when you are being attacked; to not retreat.

For example, “The candidate has continued to stand her ground despite criticism” of her plan.

Unilateral action – involving only one group or country.

“If no other country joins us, we will act unilaterally to defend our interests.”

Have you been hearing or reading idioms and expressions in stories about the American presidential campaign that you don’t understand? Let us know. We’ll explain them in future reports.

Words in This Story

confusing - adj. difficult to understand

refer to - phrasal verb to look at or in (something) for information

benefit - v. be useful or helpful to someone or something

negative - adj. harmful or bad; not wanted; not positive

expedient - adj. an easy and quick way to solve a problem; often used negatively

achieve - v. to be successful; to get something by working hard for it

1 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。

2 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

3 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

6 expediency   

n.适宜；方便；合算；利己

参考例句：

• The government is torn between principle and expediency. 政府在原则与权宜之间难于抉择。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was difficult to strike the right balance between justice and expediency. 在公正与私利之间很难两全。 来自辞典例句

7 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。