Idiomatic Idiocy

Would they know “not the sharpest knife in the drawer?

A blogging colleague recently lamented familiar expressions or idioms are disappearing from our English language, thanks to dumb-downed schooling in this country. Some examples might include: “the shoe is on the other foot,” “strike while iron is hot,” “champing at the bit”and “another feather in your cap.” Older literature, where these idioms might be found, is no longer read in our schools, having been crowded out by “woker” texts or even banned.

A sad example of the idiomatically challenged, this involving the latter example in my list above, aired recently on that puerile TV game show, “Wheel of Fortune” (ironic America’s dumbest game show is hosted by America’s brightest game show host). Watch below as the unfortunate contestants struggle to solve the Riddle of the Sphinx before them (to use another no-doubt disappearing idiom).

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Anthony Chase Fountain

The Tatler of 1709 was founded by Jonathan Swift, aka Isaac Bickerstaff. The Taos Tatler was founded by ex-New Yorker Anthony Fountain in 2018, in the same spirit, he hopes, as the original. Please send mail to taostatler@gmail.com.

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