Please stop saying the following things. They are incredibly stupid.
We're Democrats and left-leaning independents. Saying these things makes you sound like an idiot. You don't want to sound like an idiot, do you? Seriously. Just stop.
Drink the Kool-aid
Obama cult
Hillbot
Pied piper
Snake charmer
Under the bus
Obamaista (as a general rule, if you can't even pronounce it, don't type it.)
Clintonista
Lewinsky
Bitch
Obama is a sexist
Clinton is a racist
Obama is a racist
Race card / playing the race card / dealing the race card / who played the race card / blah blah -- this is the dumbest extended metaphor in the modern age. It is so dumb. So unbelievably dumb.
Add more below, but seriously, stop saying these things. Please.
Drink the Kool-aid
Obama cult
Hillbot
Pied piper
Snake charmer
Under the bus
Obamaista (as a general rule, if you can't even pronounce it, don't type it.)
Clintonista
Lewinsky
Bitch
Obama is a sexist
Clinton is a racist
Obama is a racist
Race card / playing the race card / dealing the race card / who played the race card / blah blah -- this is the dumbest extended metaphor in the modern age. It is so dumb. So unbelievably dumb.
Add more below, but seriously, stop saying these things. Please.
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So my Obamaistas are ok?
March 26, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, not allowed! Strike them from the record now and forever!
March 26, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
And come on now.....Snake Charmer? So many uses how can you take that from us?
March 26, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah, you're right. How about just never in the context of the Democratic race? The combination of the witless copmarison and the slight bristling I feel at the double entendre is TOO MUCH TO TAKE! Deal?
March 26, 2008 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, but just warn ya .....have a bit of drinking problem so not sure if I can stay on this wagon either.
March 26, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, we all appreciate the effort. Have one for me. Oh wait, sorry, DON'T have one for me. Keep that wagon rolling.
March 26, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are we still allowed to proclaim things to be EXCELLENT NEWS and/or predict that someone (or thing) is going to step down by the end of the week?
March 26, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
If we ban EXCELLENT NEWS, I'm leaving. If nothing else, EXCELLENT NEWS is what TPM is all about.
March 26, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
DF is going to step down by the end of the week.
March 26, 2008 8:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Assuming I can make it that long without these latte drinkers throwing me under the bus.
March 26, 2008 11:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha! TPM Comments: Your Source For EXCELLENT NEWS!
March 26, 2008 11:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Banning "EXCELLENT NEWS!" is EXCELLENT NEWS FOR HILLARY!!!!!
March 27, 2008 2:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Is Crazy Uncle out as well?
March 26, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
"In the tank"
March 26, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
When states don't count -- which happens pretty frequently, as you know -- is it still okay to offer colorful speculations about *why* they don't?
I hear they're taking Sinbad away from us, too.
It just may not be worth going on with this. Goodbye, cruel blog.
March 26, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank God Obamabot wasn't on the list. I refuse to give it up. (If I have to be called a Hillbot, so be it!)
March 26, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
**Liar?
March 26, 2008 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lie is okay. Liar is not. We have all lied at one point, so everyone is a liar. No need to be reminded.
March 27, 2008 8:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
teh
meh
March 26, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
What do those mean anyway. the only place I have seen 'teh' is where I thought it was a typo for 'the' but what could come out as 'meh'?
March 26, 2008 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
teh is either a true typo, or a pretend typo, often used when mocking someone else's intelligence or maturity. In reality, this word (when not a true typo, of course) typically demonstrates the user's lack of intelligence or maturity.
meh implies a lack of interest in or lack of desire for something. This word is completely acceptable. Usage:
A: Man, that's a huge bus! Think how many people you could throw under it!!
B: Meh. [Meaning: I'm not impressed.]
March 26, 2008 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, no, no! Since you've all implicitly agreed I get to be the gatekeeper for the day, let me clarify:
Funny? Totally acceptable
Predictive? Onward, good posters
Colorfully speculative? Encouraged!
Fictional impressions? Wildly applauded!
EXCELLENT NEWS? EXCELLENT NEWS TO ME!
However:
Cliched, hackneyed, insulting (with no creativity) or downright dumb? Boooooooo.
"Liar" and "Obamabot" should totally be on the list. Where's the edit function? Oh right, TPM totally drank the Kool-aid and threw it under the bus. Racists.
March 26, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think "Obamabot" and "Hillbot" are worth keeping, as they represent a sentiment that you should inform yourself, rather than act like a lemming in any situation. While I am for a specific candidate, I would not call myself a "Bot" of that candidate, because I am keeping an open mind, but I see where others are not. I reserve the right to use these phrases.
However, I shall add to the "no more" list:
Bros Before Hoes
(why garden tools are below siblings is beside the point of this contest)
The Other Side
(when referring to the other Democrat, who is in reality on the same side)
Easier/Harder to elect a Woman/Black Man
(this is about Obama and Clinton, not their demographic generalities)
Anti-Clinton
(change to Pro-Obama)
Anti-Obama
(change to Pro-Clinton)
McCain is Old
(no, McCain is corrupt and foolish)
On Day One
March 26, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is a distinct difference between being anti-Clinton and pro-Obama. In fact, one can be anti-Clinton and anti-Obama at the same time. (Kucinich '08!!!)
Some of us Obama supporters were anti-Clinton before being pro-Obama, some of us became anti-Clinton because we're pro-Obama (or vice-versa), and some of us are pro-Obama but not anti-Clinton.
(Obviously, you can swap the words "Clinton" and "Obama" in the previous paragraphs WOLOG.)
March 26, 2008 5:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Touche, Ben. I should have banned all the pro- and anti- combinations.
March 26, 2008 11:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, but if you can't make fun of Republicans, who can you make fun of?
McCain IS Old.
And senile.
And old.
March 26, 2008 11:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gandhi was 70 when he started the "Quit India" movement and 78 when he led India to independence. Earl Warren and Warren Burger served until 78, while Thurgood Marshall served until 85. Nancy Pelosi turned 68 yesterday while Diane Feinstein is 75. A bit of respect for your elders please.
March 27, 2008 4:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain my dear is no Gandhi. He is violent warhawk who is still saying that Iraq war is working and the surge is working even better.
March 27, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
He's old and senile. He'll keep mumbling his way through everything unlike Pelosi or Feinstein who are very succinct in their speech and substance.
March 27, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
meme
March 26, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
But I've forgotten all the synonyms for that meme!
March 26, 2008 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love the image of a bus driving around town and folks being thrown under it left and right. The Bus of Doom indeed.
March 26, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've always pictured a bus stuck in the mud. The people thrown under it were for traction to get the bus moving again.
Like lumber.
Or kitty litter.
March 26, 2008 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Someone the other day called it "the Bus of Prejudice" in the title to a post, completely without irony or humor. Even though it was silly, I liked imagining the Bus of Prejudice driving around, picking people up, getting people thrown under it. I couldn't stop thinking about it.
March 26, 2008 7:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Will you stand up for justice? Or sit down with the little people when the wheels on the Bus of Prejudice finally stop turning the corner?
Sounds like a Firesign Theater bit.
March 26, 2008 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously, I don't even know where "under the bus" originates as a colloquialism. Was there some weird 1890s Hell's Kitchen gang-ritual or something? What does the bus represent? Who's on the bus?
March 26, 2008 7:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I take great joy in the images of The Bus, because it speaks to our crumbling infrastructure and growing poverty.
William Safire seems to be the person most quoted on this, so take it with a grain of salt:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/magazine/19wwln_safire.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
March 27, 2008 12:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks!
March 27, 2008 8:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.newsweek.com/id/124292?from=rss
Newsweek on "thrown under the bus"
"...once a person says "throw him under the bus," the phrase lodges itself in the foreground of the mind, where it becomes the first phrase retrieved in conversation. Parrots do the same thing..."
"he [william safire] suspects that the phrase has deeper roots in minor-league baseball, where players are almost always bused to away games. In fact, its original meaning could be have been quite literal: be on time for the bus, or you will be thrown underneath it, into the storage bays."
March 27, 2008 8:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
In other words, it's a meme.
Let's throw Newsweek under the bus while the phrase is lodged in the foreground of our minds. Btw, how does Newsweek know what's in a parrot's mind?
March 27, 2008 9:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
I really liked throwing "grandma under the bus," though. It was like the ultimate taboo. Can we keep that one?
March 27, 2008 12:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
I must agree that some of the adjectives used to describe the candidates and their supporters are offensive and somewhat juvenile, if not idiotic. So perhaps we should all endeavor to be just a tad bit more "politically correct" in our comments.
That our charming snake of a prevaricator, whose 35 years of experience in engaging in the "politics of personal destruction" should be forgiven for her astute observations of the color of her opponent's skin and how that characteristic might be exploited in the pursuit of votes.
We must, in fairness, also learn to appreciate her discriminating eye in assessing which states and people are important, and which are not. It is, after all, an attribute that must have proved to be useful in her many years of distinguished service as a diplomat, winning the peace in Ireland, achieving civil liberties for women in China and the middle east, and ascertaining that Rawanda receive the attention its distinction deserved.
Nor should we fault her public embrace of NAFTA and normalizing trade relations with China, major accomplishments claimed by her husband's administration, since we've been assured that behind the scenes she actually opposed shipping millions of American jobs overseas.
As a loyal Democrat, I never want to suggest that another Democrat is untrustworthy, dishonest, or traitorous. I believe it's much more important that we simply point out the facts and allow people to draw their own conclusions and apply their own adjectives.
March 26, 2008 5:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good points. "As far as I know."
March 26, 2008 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Stop Snitchin'"
March 26, 2008 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
OOOH! OOOH! I've got one:
"I Misspoke."
March 26, 2008 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Wake Up (group of choice)!"
I really hate that one.
March 26, 2008 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Momentum or especially "Big Mo". For that matter, pretty much any phrase you hear Wolf Blitzer or AC-360 repeat over and over. In fact, that's a great clue: If the phrase is uttered repeatedly on cable news, in headlines or by candidates and/or their surrogates it should probably never be repeated.
March 26, 2008 7:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
especially Anderson Cooper! In my mind I can hear his voice as I read the words "Big Mo."
I think you're onto something, DF.
March 27, 2008 1:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Can't you though? I don't know why I watch any CNN at all. I tell myself that it's because I want to see the way that their coverage is being conducted, but I think I might just be sick.
March 27, 2008 3:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Let's go over to John King and The Big Board." Who's going to turn off the TV once they hear that? Your house could be burning down, but first you have to see The Big Board!
Don't be so hard on yourself. They know how to get inside our heads.
March 27, 2008 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, that damned studio is positively festooned with flat-screen televisions and rows of pundits with no fewer than two laptops apiece. It's a work of absolute madness. Also, you can really spot Amy Holmes as a youngster because if she's not being directly addressed she's constantly messaging or emailing on one of her laptops.
March 27, 2008 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
repug
repube
latte drinker
_____ is biased
"loose" when you mean "lose"
ALL CAPS
March 26, 2008 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
word. also "boutique state," like Idaho is some kind of high-end furniture store.
March 26, 2008 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
References to John McCain that don't include a reference to his age.
This should be banned:
"John McCain said that he doesn't know anything about economics."
This is acceptable:
"John McCain, 847, said that he doesn't know anything about economics."
March 26, 2008 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Destor, you're getting funnier. I like it.
March 26, 2008 8:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone rocking the 16-time world heavyweight champion as their profile pic is hilarious in my book.
Whoooooo!
March 26, 2008 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Second!
March 26, 2008 11:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would add McLame, McSame, or any other form of McCain's name.
McCain needs to be beaten in November because he's one of the architects of the surge and represents the continuation of Bush and Cheney's failure to grasp basic diplomacy.
Not because he's 72 and/or has a funny name.
March 26, 2008 7:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nah, his age is a real issue. He's demonstrably senile. Completely unfit to be president.
March 26, 2008 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would also like reserve the McCain specialized version of "thrown under the bus": Thrown under the Straight Talk Express. Also, any subsequnt remarks about McCain driving said Straight Talk Express over said person while haplessly plowing through a farmer's market is a plus.
March 26, 2008 11:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not that it is used here, but I really hate it when people say
"The Democrat Party"
and the interviewer or talking head just lets it go. It is an insult, and they should be challenged every time they use it.
March 26, 2008 7:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Republic Party?
March 27, 2008 5:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Larry Johnson referred to me as an "Obamatron" It made my day. Then he went on to complain about "people making ad hominem attacks". That made my month.
March 26, 2008 8:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obamatron... has a cool retro-80s computer generated vibe to it.
March 26, 2008 9:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can see it now, Obama on a lightcycle, ears flapping in the wind...
March 26, 2008 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I challenge anyone, Obama supporter or otherwise, to not laugh at this mental image.
March 27, 2008 3:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well something's flapping in the wind....
March 27, 2008 5:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obamatron - wasn't that a Transformer?
;)
March 26, 2008 11:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Pimping out Chelsea".
A guest on Dan Abram's show tonight said it AGAIN.
March 26, 2008 10:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ridiculous. Not even Eliot Spitzer could afford Chelsea.
March 26, 2008 11:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Wolf in sheeps clothing"
March 26, 2008 10:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to mention "wolf in sheep's clothing."
March 27, 2008 6:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
And please stop putting that fake Hussein 'middle name'. It is your inner bigot posing as a cosmopolitan latte liberal.
March 26, 2008 11:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
JERKSTORE! You win the "I think I get it but I don't get it" award.
March 26, 2008 11:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
And you used "latte" which I already banned. See above.
March 27, 2008 9:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but.. it's not fake.
March 27, 2008 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
A hypothesis on "thrown under the bus" ... maybe it's a modern, urban equivalent to "thrown to the wolves"
"The image of throwing somebody to the wolves derives from tales of the Russian winter, in which the occupants of a sleigh being chased by ravening wolves toss one of their number out, so that the wolves will spend time devouring him/her and will only return to the chase of the sleigh later, if at all, giving the others the chance of escaping entirely."
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/52/messages/391.html
But I'd really like to keep that one for the situations where it really fits -- you know, where the person thrown winds up with "tire tracks across their face"
And please ---- what IS a 'meme'?
March 26, 2008 11:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Elizabeth2 wrote: "And please ---- what IS a 'meme'?"
A meme, to sound like "gene," is something invented by Richard Dawkins in his (truly) classic book The Selfish Gene as another example of the inevitability of evolution given certain circumstances:
self-replicating things that feed in a limited environment
For Dawkins, a meme is a snatch of song, a phrase, the idea of a god, etc. Some memes propagate better than others and so come to survive. The environment is human culture.
Ironically, the term "meme" has become a meme, misused outside its domain like "parameters."
March 27, 2008 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey you forget "snake oil salesman", started here but really catching on. Better stop it now
March 27, 2008 12:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
"insignificant" and/or "significant" when referring to geographic regions
ownership of hybrid automobiles
sandals manufactured in Germany (especially if worn with socks)
"Hussein in the membrane" ... well, ok, that can stay
"it's 3am ...."
March 27, 2008 12:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the post - it seems like the one thing that people can agree on around here!
March 27, 2008 12:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Forgot a biggie:
inferring that you and/or your grandma are "post-racial"
March 27, 2008 12:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
"We are the change we've been waiting for."
Go ahead and think it. Just don't say it.
March 27, 2008 12:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's one those statements that could be entirely true and it would still sound corny.
March 27, 2008 12:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
exactly.
March 27, 2008 1:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
let's stop saying that it is bad for Democrats for this contest to continue.
It's Ok to say "yes we can'. Clinton can use it, not just Obama, because Cesar Chavez made it his and his heirs, Dolores Huerta and his grandson are for Hillary.
"yes we can" defeat republicans. How about a little less time spent worrying about this contest- if your state has voted already-- and help out a red-to-blue democrat! near you or online.
if you need one --support war hero and brilliant leader, Charlie Brown in CA-04. we need our democratic presidential team to be able to pass the needed bills to reverse bush/cheney fast.!!
As a gifted officer in the air force, Charlie was in charge of the flights over Iraq under Clinton and GW Bush. HE knew Bush was lying to take us into war. He almost won in '06. He's now being challenged by a big time rigid right republican creep, Tom McClintock, after john Doolittle dropped out. We need him to help end this war the right way.
March 27, 2008 1:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Doolittle is an A-1 scumbag, one of Abramoff's best buddies. I really wanted to see Brown send him packing in '04. Seems that his crap finally caught up with him since now he's got to get while the getting is good.
I think you might be going a bit overboard on McClintock. He's basically just a slightly toned down Howard Jarvis. His whole political career has basically centered around lowering taxes. Pretty boilerplate, old-school GOP stuff that I don't think quite qualifies him as a creep. Having that said, Brown is a good guy and he would end Doolittle's too long reign in the fightin' 4th.
March 27, 2008 3:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
He needs Obama to do a TV spot for him. It worked for Bill Foster here in IL to win a Republican seat held for years by Denny Hasert.
The man has skills and will help get a lot of Dems elected to both houses.
March 27, 2008 9:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Limousine Liberal
Empty Suit (would an empty suit have the guts to give that speech from Philly? Come off it.)
Hilery (or any other corruption of Senator Clinton's first name.)
must-win
March 27, 2008 1:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
kitchen sink
March 27, 2008 1:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Mi and Fl knew the rules when they chose to vote "early"
March 27, 2008 2:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
See, we were having fun here, but this kind of thing is going to ruin it.
March 27, 2008 3:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
My only request: Please don't prohibit "Kitten Climbing Into a Basket"!
March 27, 2008 4:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not a friendly place to try and promote Orwell's principles of political writing.
March 27, 2008 8:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Some snarky remarks are just more equal than others..
March 27, 2008 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Also, STOP THE MADNESS OF THE CAPITOLS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 27, 2008 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exemption required for idiotic.
March 27, 2008 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
"There is plenty of blame to go around". That is one that a guilty political person or party usually falls back on.
Try using that as a defense before a judge and jury.
March 27, 2008 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Comeback Kid - I hate it. They're not kids, they only play them on tv
March 27, 2008 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know, I'd love to stop but the Lewinsky-trashing snake who's thrown the Democratic Party under the bus wants you all to drink the Kool-aid and follow her, pied piper-like, into her high stakes race card game. B*tch.
March 27, 2008 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Haven't seen it on this site as much, but would also like to ban
Obamateur
and its root construction
Amateur hour in Chicago
Oh, and can we ban "Negro loving hippie?"
Wait, sorry, that's from when I stumbled on to little green footballs, never mind.
March 27, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Do they seriously say that over there? I need to go check this out.
March 27, 2008 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't quit Bros before Hoes...I just cant....
March 27, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
We really need to add "black/brown issue" to that list. Does no one else think that's a disgusting phrase?
March 27, 2008 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
I HATE "black/brown." It drove me crazy when they called a whole debate that.
March 29, 2008 9:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Use of "infer" when "imply"is what you mean.
March 27, 2008 11:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Well, you know" . Please Hillary, stop stop saying that, because Well, as it turned out, with your Bosnia Trip BS, when you said Well, you know, you were actually trying to make sure that, Well, we would not know.
March 27, 2008 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I use "You know" as my drinking game phrase for Hillary's debate appearances and speeches. Every time she says "You know", drink until you don't.
And damn, I am really gonna miss "Under the bus"! That's one of my favorites.
March 27, 2008 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't worry, I've carved out an exception above for "thrown under the Straight Talk Express" so that we can bring it back in the general election.
March 27, 2008 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, alright, as long as we have that exception, then.
March 29, 2008 10:00 AM | Reply | Permalink