Christmas tree, v. trans.

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 1:13 PM, Benjamin Zimmer
<bgzimmer at ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> As used by Chris Wallace and Chuck Schumer on Fox News Sunday:
>
> ---
> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425713,00.html
> WALLACE: If you hear some Democrats talk about a stimulus package —
> infrastructure, you know, a variety — unemployment relief, a variety —
> even a bailout to the auto companies. Are you going to "Christmas
> tree" this bill?
> SCHUMER: No, we will not "Christmas tree" this bill. The times are too
> urgent. Everyone has their own desires and needs. It's going to have
> to wait.
> ---

Sorry, should have checked Safire's Political Dictionary first:

"Elliot Richardson, then Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare,
said in 1970: 'Until I became Secretary, I had never heard 'Christmas
tree' used as a transitive verb." Explained Alan Otten in The Wall
Street Journal: 'On Capitol Hill, the practice of tagging a host of
special-interest amendments to a popular bill is known as
"Christmas-treeing" the bill.'" (p. 120)


--Ben Zimmer

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