"On the ground" redux

[Peter A. McGraw]

--On Thursday, November 11, 2004 12:13 AM -0600 "Mullins, Bill"
<Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:

>> Awhile ago there was a discussion of the figurative use of "on the
>> ground." For any of you who missed it, there was a great example this
>> morning on NPR.  In a report on a new agreement over the Darfur region
>> of Sudan, the news reader (female, I forget who), said, "The no-fly zone
>> will be a significant element on the ground."  This ALMOST works
>> literally, but with the word "element," it seems to me, not quite.
>>
>> Peter Mc.
>
> To me the incongruous part is comparing "on the ground" to a "no-fly
> zone". One is several thousand feet above the other.

Exactly.  That's why it was amusing, and why it could only have been
intended figuratively (i.e., on site, where the real action is, etc.).


*****************************************************************
Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************