Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Headline doesn't cut it

The Fox News website has a banner headline:
"GOP: FREEZE DOESN'T MAKE THE CUT"

Wrong idiom. "Doesn't make the cut" means to move to a higher, more exclusive level. An athlete at the Olympic trials who is selected for the team "makes the cut."

The Fox editor should have written: "GOP: FREEZE DOESN'T CUT IT"
If something doesn't cut it, it falls short or is not good enough.

Republicans weren't auditioning the president's ideas for a place on their agenda, they were evaluating his economic plan.