Of Wide Stances and Toe-tappers
Pondering the saga of Larry Craig, Rebecca Boone notes in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
In the list of famous excuses ever given for questionable behavior, "I have a wide stance" must fall somewhere between the schoolchild's favorite, "the dog ate my homework," and President Bill Clinton's, "I didn't inhale."Later in the article, my co-host Grant weighs in on whether the slang terms popularized by this scandal -- "wide stance" and "toe tapper" -- have, um, legs.
posted by Martha at 2:24 PM
4 Comments:
Right after the first "Grant paragraph":
"Craig's office declined to comment on the matter."
Sometimes I envy journalists--like when they get to phone Senator Craig's office for comment on whether "wide stance" will last in popular usage. That would have been fun.
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IANAL (I am not a lexicographer), but my money--very little of my money--is on "wide stance" sticking around as a recurring example of "hypocrite politician's idiotic excuse." Why? "Wide stance" is handy for Democrats who don't want to mock President Clinton, but who need an expression that parallels, "I did not inhale."
Plus, "I am not a crook" is stale.
I further suspect, since it will mostly be Democrats perpetuating the phrase, that any inherent homosexual bigotry will be downplayed or forgotten entirely. It will be about the "funny-ha-ha" (hypocrisy and idiocy), not the "funny-queer."
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www.waywordradio.org
LOL, &y. I thought the same thing about the journalist calling for comment!
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