April 30, 2008...8:02 am
“Under the Bus”
Newsweek has an interesting comment on the use of the phrase “to throw under the bus.” The expression is both evocative and totally weird. Is it a city bus, or a school bus? Is it moving? Why use the definite article instead of the indefinite article - “the” bus instead of “a” bus?
According to William Safire, this phrase was once popularized by Cyndi Lauper, and it may have originally been an expression used by minor league baseball teams while on tour. But it is anyone’s guess why the usage had suddenly become so common, with even political figures throwing their associates “under the bus” just because they disagree on something and say so. Personally, I started noticing this usage first on reality shows - Top Model, Top Chef, Project Runway - in which to be accused of throwing another under the bus is dire censure indeed, especially at judging table.
Not that I watch those shows.
1 Comment
June 30, 2008 at 9:00 pm
[...] about this word and its usage. As in my posts “Ties,” “Tasers” and “Under the bus,” here I’m interested in how a word’s usage possesses dynamics that stretch, [...]
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