Rumsfeld won't have the guillotine "float down"?

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 10/27/06, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> Did Donald Rumsfeld really say in his press conference yesterday
> (Oct. 26), after commenting that he would not impose deadlines on
> Iraq, something like "would you have the guillotine *float down* on
> them"?  Either I missed a clever, subtle metaphor for imposing
> deadlines slowly (unlikely from Rumsfeld?), or this image is
> (another?) indication of his disconnect from reality.

http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=3772
"Now, you're looking for some sort of a guillotine to come flowing
down if some date isn't met."

Float down, flow down, either way it's weird.


--Ben Zimmer

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