"You can't make that cat walk backwards."

[Jonathan Lighter]

Hence the popular "walk his statement back."

JL

On Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 11:11 AM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "You can't make that cat walk backwards."
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Walking back the cat" was common in diplomatic circles back in the mid-90s
> for the delicate art of justifying a reversal of a publicly stated
> position.
> Not to be confused with "herding cats."
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 10:47 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "You can't make that cat walk backwards."
>
> Says law professor Jonathan Turley on CNN.
>
> He means, "You can't take it back or unring the bell or push the toothpaste
> back in the tube or the genie back in the bottle or anything like that."
>
> JL
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org