full court press: According to Mark Shield on PBS news on Friday, April 13, 2018, James Comey’s book, “A Higher Loyalty,” will have a full court press publicity. A full court press is a basketball term which is defined on www.sportsidioms.com.

 

 

 

Bush Turns Up Heat in Iowa

The Wall Street Journal, Saturday/Sunday, August 15-16, 2015

U.S. NEWS

Bush Tries to Turn Up Heat in Iowa, by Reid J. Epstein

DES MOINE, Iowa–“At 62 years old, Jeb Bush is still willing to test his fastball. While gripping a baseball at the Iowa State Fair, the former Florida governor announced a goal of 50 mph.  As he whizzed the ball through a canyon of inflated prizes, the radar gun spoke the truth: 44 mph.  He tried again: 47.

Whether Mr. Bush can bring the heat to his Republican presidential campaign is a nagging question that now hangs over his candidacy.”

Mr. Bush is trying to put the heat on his fastball race for the Republican nomination for president of the United States as well as on a pitch at the Iowa State Fair.  His fast balls at the fair were strikes, balls over the plate.

He is trying to strike out the other potential Republican nominees.

There are a lot of baseball idioms in the news these days as it is baseball season in the U.S.

Bring in a Relief Pitcher

The Wall Street Journal, Saturday/Sunday, June 20-21, 2015

THE OFF DUTY SUMMER 50

Bring in a Relief Pitcher

“It’s hot outside. Your guests are thirsty. Mixing individual drinks would be excruciating.  So grab your prettiest pourer and whip up these large-format cocktails-the host’s strategy for slaking in quantity.”

The drinks listed are:  Suey’s Sangrita, Black Beauty Punch, Handlebar Mustache Punch, and Strawberry French 75.  They look refreshing and good!

Relief Pitcher in the heading is a play on a baseball relief pitcher to be brought in to relieve the starting pitcher.

 

The Bar Has Been Set Much Higher For Human Rights Litigation

The New York Times, Friday, March 6, 2015

Business Day

Companies Turn Tables on Human Rights Lawyers, by Barry Meier

“Terrence Hollingsworth is one of a band of lawyers who have targeted multinational corporations for mistreating workers abroad. Now they find themselves on the defensive…

The problems engulfing Mr. Hollingsworth underscore the mounting difficulties facing a small group of plaintiff’s lawyers who have carved out a niche suing multinational corporations on charges that they violated human rights overseas.

‘The bar has been set higher, for human rights litigation’ said Susan H. Farbstein, a law professor at Harvard.”

The bar being set higher for this litigation makes it more difficult to sue multinational corporations.

London Trains for Post-Olympic Hurdle

The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, August 15, 2012

MONEY & INVESTING

London Trains for Post-Olympic Hurdle, by Alice Sperit

LONDON–The flame no longer burns inside London’s Olympic Stadium, but property developers still are hoping that the Summer Games will ignite the moribund housing market in the neighboring area.

The idiom here is hurdle, from track and field sports.  One has to jump over the hurdles on a track.  Apparently, the British government did well with their hurdles turning the old Olympic Park into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for residents.

Monday, June 23, 2014:  From the online ad for the reconfigured Olympic Park:

“The same size as Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens combined and the biggest new park to open in London for a century, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the one of the most ambitious developments the capital has ever seen. Now, almost two years after London was taken over by Olympic fever, the park has just reopened for public use and the ambitious plans for its legacy can be finally put to the test. The park has received a facelift to make it a green and spacious environment: 4,300 new trees have been planted and four new outdoor spaces added on top of the miles of waterways, acres of woods and habitats for wildlife. From the nature and mountain biking trails to the Olympic pool, we look at the what’s on offer in the capital’s newest playground.”

In addition, there are the following spaces:  A velopark for cyclists; a multi-use sports arena; a hockey and tennis facility, as well as “The Orbit,” the largest sculpture in Great Britain,  a great looking cafe and playground.

 

 

Game Player/Game Changer

The Economist, May 10th 2014  Courses (Advertisement on page 84.) Oxford Executive MBA “Go from a game player to a successful game changer.  The Oxford MBA is your opportunity to transform yourself and your ambitions.” Business is a game according to this ad.  An MBA can change the game just as a touchdown can change an American football game or a goal English football.  Actually, the idioms may mean more than just scoring.  Perhaps changing the coach can really change the game.

Over the Tips of Its Skis

The New York Times National Friday, February 28, 2014

Day After Veto, Arizona Takes Up Abortion Clinics, by Fernando Santos

On Wednesday, “Demonstrators in Phoenix hailed the veto of a bill viewed as biased against gays…” On Thursday the House of Representatives introduced a “new piece of social legislation that would permit the surprise inspection of abortion clinics in the state”…A vote is postponed until next week.

The Center for Arizona Policy, has been behind several pieces of social legislation, including the above.  Cathi Herrod is president of the group. Chuck Coughlin an important advisor to Governor Brewer of Arizona, “said in an interview that he had told Ms. Herrod that her organization was ‘over the tip of it skis,’ on the verge of losing relevance because of its ‘very narrow social agenda.”

This is the second skiing metaphor this week.  It is skiing season and metaphors seem to crop up with the season.  If one goes over the tips of skiis, one usually falls.

Kicking the Can on the Budget and U.S. Government Default

Friday, October 11, 2013

This does not come from a particular newspaper,TV or radio show, but from reading and hearing  idiomatic expressions about the lack of government initiative on pressing issues, particularly the budget and the debt crisis.

One of the terms used is “kick the can” and “kick the can down the road.”  We used to play this on one of the flat blocks in San Francisco.  The point of the game was to beat the other side by kicking the can into an improvised goal, in our case the drains at the end of the block.  Of course, one wants to win the game by getting at least one goal. One of the sentences I saw in an OP-ED stated something like “just kick the can.” in other words “do something”  If one kicks the can down the road, it usually means putting off decisions.

Surf’s Up, and So Is the Curtain at This Festival

The New York Times, Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Surf’s Up, and So Is the Curtain at This Festival, by Ian Lovett

“La Jolla plunges into immersive theater:

San Diego–Sitting silently in a seat was pretty much off limits at the Without Walls Festival, a weekend of theater set in, near and around La Jolla Playhouse here.

With more than 20 shows at a variety of locations, the inaugural festival, which concluded on Sunday, brought site-specific and immersive performances to the West Coast in a big (and expensive) way, taking advantage of the city’s sunny climate while signaling just how quickly this strain of theater is growing in the United States.”

Actually, the surf was up, so this really is not an idiomatic use of surfing, but as a headline it is great.  It catches the reader’s attention.  An idiomatic use might be this about a business conference and result: “The surf was up and we rode the wave.”

Free Exchange: Surf’s Up

The Economist, May 19, 2012

Merger waves mean that markets can consolidate rapidly.  The next one is coming.

“Mergers happen in waves, so the number of firms collapses suddenly rather than dwindling over time.  And then next one may soon crest.”

“…Research suggests that shocks start merger waves.  Some firms are quicker than others to respond to the disruption, or suffer less damage.  This divergence allows the strong to mop up the weak.” Examples given are technological shifts as occured then the telephone and telegraph were invented, and more recently, mergers in the computer manufacturing and business services markets that were disrupted by the internet.  Other types of shocks such as slumps in demand and regulatory shocks can trigger deals…

Once one merger occurs, copycat transactions in the same industry are more likely… A wave starts to form.”

Will a perfect merger wave form?  Firms have built “piles of cash”.  ” A global shock has hit most industries and there is plenty of spare capacity.”

This was written in May, but during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere waves build up.  Surfers look for the perfect wave, but corporations may have to wait until after the November elections and even into January of 2013 when the newly elected take office.