Monday, May 11, 2009

Implosions on the tarmac

I love a mixed metaphor. It's a traditional staple of sports reporting and despite the best efforts of spoilsports like Media Watch, it's still going strong. I was reading the Hobart Mercury on Saturday when I was arrested by this vivid image.
Can a blueprint be in danger of imploding? I have checked with international blueprint experts, and they all say no. I thought "I will make fun of this journalist's little mistake in my blog". I forgot to bring in the clipping from the paper so I did a google search for "imploded on the tarmac". I didn't find the article above, but I did find this:

And also this:

To be fair, that one was an imploding quest, not blueprint. However you've got to love the way he's also squeezed in a target on Ponting's head, a backyard, dreams turned to dust in a sizzling heatwave, Ponting trapped in a time warp with a nightmare, a sore point AND a hurdle.

Ben Dorries. Definitely paid per metaphor (or part thereof).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A dazzling array of literary tropes there, deployed by throwing them at the wall to see who salutes them.

Chris Rees said...

So you think he's the Jackson Pollock of Australian cricket journalism? I think he's cooked his goose, and now he's got to lie in it.