Up the creek without an idiom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few days ago I was flipping TV channels and heard right-wing political commentator Dinesh D’Souza botch a common idiom by saying something like:

 

“Biden is riding in the canoe, but I don’t think he’s manning the oars.”

 

When I Googled that, I found an earlier variant at Proof Positive:

 

“It’s clear that Biden is in the canoe, but he’s not the one controlling the oars.”

 

That statement is unintentionally hilarious because, as shown above, canoes usually have paddles rather than oars, and the common idiom is Up the Creek without a Paddle. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s usually best to get specific and Call a spade a spade.

 

Images of a canoe paddle and spade were adapted from Wikimedia Commons.