stupid idiom
File under “stupid things people say that are then broadcast on TV:”
It’s nothing new to say that Rudy Giuliani has all his eggs in one basket in Florida. It is, in fact, the prevailing cliche. However, last night on the news I saw a brief sound byte in which a woman said that he had all his eggs in one basket and “if they don’t hatch, he’s in trouble.”
Call me pedantic, but I’m pretty sure once you put your eggs in a basket, you don’t really WANT them to hatch. In fact, you might be a bit taken aback if they do. If you really want your eggs to hatch, put them in a NEST.
This misguided extension of a cliche metaphor calls to mind the time years ago — and forgive me if I’ve written this one before — when a sheriff from some podunk place outside of Pittsburgh said on the news of some vandals: “They came through here like a bull in a china closet.”
I thought the same thing when I heard that news clip.
I had to read that last line four times before I could figure out what was wrong with it.