Talking Points Memo strings together the metaphors used in Senate committee hearings related to the Wall Street bailout:
My favorite:
- Scylla and Charybdis (Mythical sea monsters that inhabit the strait between Sicily and Italy. If, as a sailor, you get too close to one coast or the other, you run into trouble with one of them. Using Scylla and Charybdis as a unitary metaphor is akin to saying that you are passing through treacherous waters, as in sailing “between a rock and a hard place.”)
Other metaphorical references used in the hearings today:
- Thor
- rubber stamping
- scavenging vultures
- done on the fly
- chickens feeding
- chickens coming home to roost
- flying by the seat of the pants
- cavalry without direction
- ammunition from taxpayers’ arsenal
- fire
- tools we need
- water on an electrical fire
- musical chairs
- bubble
- arteries clogged
- hurricane
- tsunami
- uncharted waters
- hungry birds
- bazooka in the pocket
- bailout v. rescue
Prometheus Unbound 