I should note that I am less familiar with the first two expressions; however, in keeping with the spirit of a frightening number of people in this great country, I still insist on exercising my right to vote despite the fact that I am a blatantly uninformed about these issues at hand.
However, I did enjoy learning about the first two expressions--of course, now I feel certain that they will be apparent to me each time they are uttered by various media and subsequently I will now share in your cringes when I hear them. I've never played Blackjack so I was unfamiliar with the "double down" maneuver from which this expression arose. Instead, the successful ad campaign run by KFC a couple years ago has burned only one disgusting mental image into my brain when I hear the words "double down"--that greasy, meat-stuffed-with-meat abomination they created (http://qa.kfc.com/doubledown/ if you'd never seen this poor excuse for food).
Thanks for the clarification about the likely origin of "pushing the envelope." Somehow I always assumed (I have absolutely no idea how I conjured this up, but please bear with me) that that expression was related to the part during awards ceremonies where someone hands the announcer the envelope containing the name of the supreme winner. So at some point I imagined "pushing the envelope" meant doing something even greater than previously set limits, because of this action during such ceremonies. Again, this is completely unfounded and something odd that I likely created in my mind as a child. I've never read Wolfe's work but that seems a very reasonable origin.
However, I will now find it amusingly absurd to instead picture someone in a good suit straining and groaning as they push a standard-sized envelope across a desk. For that amusing factor, I didn't vote for this one being the most annoying. At least I can have a comical image now when I hear it--I'll just picture the subject of the quotation to be struggling with the futile task of urging stationary along. Actually, undertaking such a mundane task would be perfectly fitting for plenty of people making headlines these days. In fact for some of them, it might be greater than some of their "accomplishments."
"Kick the can down the road" wins my vote for its cumbersomeness (itself an awkward word, no?) in addition to your description of its triteness. So in (dis)honor of "kick the can down the road," and also to add insult to injury by conjuring up more cliches, I can't resist saying that I hope this expression soon kicks the can (and that those who overuse it get a swift kick in the pants).
I should note that I am less familiar with the first two expressions; however, in keeping with the spirit of a frightening number of people in this great country, I still insist on exercising my right to vote despite the fact that I am a blatantly uninformed about these issues at hand.
However, I did enjoy learning about the first two expressions--of course, now I feel certain that they will be apparent to me each time they are uttered by various media and subsequently I will now share in your cringes when I hear them. I've never played Blackjack so I was unfamiliar with the "double down" maneuver from which this expression arose. Instead, the successful ad campaign run by KFC a couple years ago has burned only one disgusting mental image into my brain when I hear the words "double down"--that greasy, meat-stuffed-with-meat abomination they created (http://qa.kfc.com/doubledown/ if you'd never seen this poor excuse for food).
Thanks for the clarification about the likely origin of "pushing the envelope." Somehow I always assumed (I have absolutely no idea how I conjured this up, but please bear with me) that that expression was related to the part during awards ceremonies where someone hands the announcer the envelope containing the name of the supreme winner. So at some point I imagined "pushing the envelope" meant doing something even greater than previously set limits, because of this action during such ceremonies. Again, this is completely unfounded and something odd that I likely created in my mind as a child. I've never read Wolfe's work but that seems a very reasonable origin.
However, I will now find it amusingly absurd to instead picture someone in a good suit straining and groaning as they push a standard-sized envelope across a desk. For that amusing factor, I didn't vote for this one being the most annoying. At least I can have a comical image now when I hear it--I'll just picture the subject of the quotation to be struggling with the futile task of urging stationary along. Actually, undertaking such a mundane task would be perfectly fitting for plenty of people making headlines these days. In fact for some of them, it might be greater than some of their "accomplishments."
"Kick the can down the road" wins my vote for its cumbersomeness (itself an awkward word, no?) in addition to your description of its triteness. So in (dis)honor of "kick the can down the road," and also to add insult to injury by conjuring up more cliches, I can't resist saying that I hope this expression soon kicks the can (and that those who overuse it get a swift kick in the pants).