Tag Archives: Titanic Cliche

Titanic Cliches

Spokesman For Republican Governors Association Uses Titanic Cliche

There are many legitimate concerns about how the new health care law will cost taxpayers. Like many government programs, it will be messy. At any rate, Mike Schrimpf, spokesman for the Republican Governors Association had this to say about all the new people that will soon be part of this health care system:

“For many states placing more individuals into a broken system would be like adding more passengers to the Titanic,” said Mike Schrimpf, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association. “And regardless of whether it’s federal dollars or state dollars, taxpayers are still on the hook.”

Okay, so I assume you mean these people will be like the unfortunate souls unable to escape Titanic and died. Perhaps there was a better way to say this rather than resorting to a cliche. So Mr. Schrimpf I award you Titanic Cliche of Day, which comes with Fractured Finger Award with the words “I promise not to use Titanic Cliche Again” on imitation brass plate.

Source: 9News, Report: Obama Health Law A Good Deal For States, 26 Nov 2012


Titanic Cliches

Titanic Cliche of Day-Neil Cavuto Is Standing On Titanic Deck

By now you are aware I dislike Titanic cliches. I dislike them since they indicate laziness. After all with thousands of words to convey a message, having to resort to Titanic means you simply want to take the easy route. Okay, enough of that. Now I do not watch Fox News these days since I only get basic cable (local broadcast channels only). To watch Fox News means spending over $63 to my local cable company.

Neil Cavuto, who has his own business show on Fox, decided to opine recently about the state of our very bad fiscal condition as a nation. He is certainly right, things are not good. Government spending is way too high, job recovery is very slow, and now there is talk of soaking the rich.

Why do I feel like I’m on the deck of the Titanic and frantically trying to point out to the captain, “Is it me, captain, or is that a big chunk of ice out there?” It’s like I’m seeing this whole disaster play out in slow motion. I’d like to be wrong. Actually, I’d “love” to be wrong.
But my opinion here? I think we’re sinking fast. And we haven’t even hit anything yet!

Neil, I like you but please refrain from using the Titanic metaphor. It just no longer has the punch it once had. For your use of this metaphor, I award you the oft imitated never duplicated Fractured Finger statue (a nod to the old Laugh-In show) with the words “I promise never to use a Titanic cliche again” on a imitation brass plate on the base.

Source: Fox News, Neil Cavuto:We Are Sinking Fast,14 April 2012


Titanic Cliches

Titanic Cliche of Day-Chinese Diplomat Warns Japan Relationship Will Sink Like Titanic

Relations between China and Japan are strained right now with China over the Diaoyu Islands. China claims the islands while Japan does not recognize the claim. So naturally a Titanic cliché is in order to show how serious China wants to resolve the current problems.

China’s assistant foreign minister on Friday urged Japan to seriously self-reflect to ensure bilateral ties get back on track, warning that continuous erroneous practices by Japan will see the relationship between it and China sink like the Titanic.

Le Yucheng made these comments at a seminar organized to mark the 40th anniversary of normalized China-Japan relations. One has to wonder how serious China really is. After all, Japan invaded China and was quite ruthless in how it dealt with its population. This is just one of those ways to poke at Japan in a small way for what happened during its occupation of China. Suffice to say that falling back on a Titanic cliché is never a good thing to do and looks foolish for a senior diplomat.

Source: ChinaDaily.com, Diplomat warns Sino-Japan ties may sink like Titanic, 28 Sep 2012


Titanic, Titanic Cliches

Titanic Musings: New Titanic Book, Titanic 3D, and Titanic Cliche of Day

•Titanic has generated lots of books over the years covering every conceivable point of view. Of course with 100th anniversary of Titanic sinking, a lot more books have come out. Some are excellent, good, or just plain bad. The worst simply repeat what others have written (including obvious errors of fact) claiming to be original work. Fortunately the reviewers for The Titanic Commutator (published by the Titanic Historical Society) help sort out which ones are worth reading to those best used for lining bird cages or kindling for your wood stove. Mark Chirnside reviewed On A Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of RMS Titanic giving it a thumbs up for its well written approach to the subject. The book also offers new insights and information along with examining some current controversies.

On A Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of RMS Titanic
Tad Fitch, J. Kent Layton & Bill Wormstedt
Amberly Publishing, 2012

•Titanic 3D broke new records as people all over the world flocked to see Jack and Rose in 3D especially during the Titanic anniversary. Ticket sales hit $2.3 billion which includes $88 million overseas. Proves you can draw a crowd to see an already popular movie but many industry people still are not sold on 3D. It may be, as many predicted, just the right time and place for it again until the public tires of it. Are we ready for 3D Star Wars?

•Mithika Mwenda, coordinator for campaign group the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance made a statement recently at the UN Doha Climate talks about the slow progress of negotiations. And this is where the comparison to Titanic comes in:

“This is like the Titanic, where both developing countries and industrialized countries will sink.”

Congratulations! You have been awarded the oft imitated, never duplicated award for Titanic Cliche of Day. I am just wondering if Titanic and dinosaurs will soon be connected!

Source:
The Republic(Reuters), Analysis: UN Doha Climate Talks Risk Sinking “Like Titanic”,24 May 2012

 

 

Titanic Cliches

Titanic Cliche of Day: Red Sox Sinking Like Titanic!

I do not follow Boston Red Sox (for those outside the U.S. they are a baseball team) but they had a bad 2011 season. So far they have fared badly in home games. Citing bad management moves to get better talent and in-house problems, Scott Cordischi  sees the Sox in very dire straits. So dire enough to write this:

It’s ironic that a lot has been made about this being the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park. It also happens to be the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. In fact, it was the sinking of the Titanic which kept the opening of a brand new Fenway Park off of the front pages of the Boston newspapers in 1912 as both events occurred on the same day. Now, 100 years later, the Red Sox organization appears to have hit an iceberg and is taking on water fast. Abandon ship!

I will leave it to Red Sox fans to decide how accurate this use of a Titanic cliché is.

Source: GoLocal Worcester, Red Sox Report: Sinking Like The Titanic!, 6 May 2012


Titanic Miscellaneous

Titanic Cliche of the Day: NY Post-Business Sank Like The Titanic

For once this is a nautical related cliché. Recently a new ferry service began on the East River to reduce people taking subways and buses. NY Waterway, a subsidiary of BillyBey Ferry Co, receives a $9.1 million subsidy from New York City for a three year pilot project. When it started up in June, ridership soared to 10,900 a day. According to news reports, the city is estimating 400,000 riders for the first year. That makes it about 1,095 passengers a day. So the high numbers at the start looked promising.

Except that it was for free until 25 June when the $4 fare kicked in. Then ridership began to tumble and according to the New York Post was down to 2,824 paying customers before the Fourth of July. Note that is above the estimated number of 1095 but still way down from the 10.900 when the service started for free. This prompted a writer for the New York Post to write:

Business sank like the Titanic on the new East River ferry service last week once passengers had to start paying.

Of course the ferry operator is not displeased. Despite the dropping ridership they claim ridership has exceeded expectations. Now usually when a business starts up and is unable to keep people coming back resulting in fewer sales, the effect is startling causing the business to correct things fast or close up. The fact traffic dropped significantly after the free trial ended means people would rather take the bus or subway rather than pay $4.00 to cross the river. Perhaps if they did not have that $9 million cushion they might look at the numbers a whole different way.

Sources:
New York Post, $4 Fee Turns Ferry Into Ghost Ship, 4 Jul 2011

dnainfo.com, Ridership Drops After East River Ferry Starts Charging, 30 June 2011

dnainfo.com, East River Ferry Draws 12,000 Riders in First Two Days, 1 June 2011

Titanic Cliches

Titanic Cliche of the Day

Today’s cliché comes from blog at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“Just a week after the anniversary of the nation’s greatest oil disaster, Congress is set to vote on legislation to open up virtually all federal waters to drilling, while cutting governmental oversight and safety measures at the same time. That’s sort of like telling the designer of the Titanic to forget about the icebergs and just build more ships. Full speed ahead!”

I am not sure it quite works. Titanic was designed to take damage if one, two, or even three of her forward compartments were damaged from a ship collision. Hitting icebergs were rare (usually head on). Titanic was damaged when the iceberg scraped along the starboard side causing lots of ruptures along the way. Hardly the scenario ever envisioned by ship designers. As for the designer, Thomas Andrews, he perished when Titanic sank.

Source:
Natural Resources Defense Council (blog), Stop the Dangerous Bills For More Drilling, 3 May 2011

Titanic Cliches

Titanic Cliches of the Day

Once again time to see how Titanic gets used and abused as a cliché.

1. “A new development – company board chairman Jorma Ollila today said he will leave his post by 2012 – may lead you to wonder if the company isn’t merely rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Along with his announcement, Ollila said he would not “throw in the towel” at the Nokia before then.”
-Tracey E. Schelmetic on techzone360.com about Nokia chairman Ollila departing next year.

2. “On Friday April 29, 2011, as riots raged across the country, local television stations in Uganda were twiddling their thumbs. Like the band on the Titanic that played on as the ship sank, the TV stations were showing music videos, repeats of Mexican soaps, or feeds of the Royal Wedding in London.”
-Daniel Kalinaki writing in Daily Monitor about riots in Uganda and the failure of its television media to cover it.

Sources:
1. techzone360.com, Nokia Chairman of the Board Ollila Departing Next Year, 3 May 2011

2. Daily Monitor, You must worry when your TV shows soaps but no riots, 3 May 2011

Titanic Cliches

Titanic Cliches of the Day

1. Global Ship Lease uses container ships to move goods you likely purchased online or locally. In theory the company makes a lot of money through fixed leases to transport cargo. But as Motley Fool points out, the company is $600 million in debt and not able to guarantee paying its loan obligations. This fact allows Sean Williams to opine:

“Global Ship Lease (NYSE: GSL) has logged a greater-than-300% gain in the past year, but if its debtors ever get their way, GSL could sink faster than the Titanic.”

Ouch!

Motley Fool, Is This Shipper The Next Titanic?, 21 Jan 2011

2. Pakistan has serious problems and recently began reorganizing the federal cabinet. This provoked harsh criticism as evidenced by an editor in Dawn:

‘In the present climate, that may be akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.’

When a government reshuffling gets the Titanic deck chair treatment, you know it looks bad or a bad comedy sketch.

Sify, ‘Pakistan Cabinet Overhaul Like Rearranging Titanic Deck Chairs’, 24 Jan 2011

Titanic, Titanic Cliches

Titanic Cliche of the Day:Turning Titanic Takes Time

Justin Markman in an opinion piece for the Ventura County Reporter wrote:

What’s equally toxic is this Republican mass denial of the facts going on in this election season as the righties with their constant Obama-bashing refuse to concede that it takes time to turn the Titanic away from the rocks and hidden icebergs still floating just off the bow, and that it may take easily as long to correct as it took the Republicans and their corporate Wall Street and foreign corporate cartel overlords to get us into this Third World-like economic emergency.

This is a bad use of Titanic imagery. Titanic had little time to avoid colliding with the iceberg and in the end was unable to escape being damaged fatally by it. And saying it may take “easily as long to correct” is way off base unless you are arguing that like Titanic the iceberg is right ahead. As for his political opinion, that is up for you the reader to decide.

For poor use of Titanic imagery, Markman is awarded our never imitated Titanic Cliche of the Day Award complete with tacky iceberg martini glass.

Source: Ventura County Reporter, Turning The Titanic Takes Time, 28 Oct 2010