Let's throw 'under the bus' under the SUV

When I was the editor of Metro Magazine, a trade publication about bus and passenger rail transportation, I was occasionally "thrown under the bus" by some of my colleagues in other departments. Oddly, I didn't really mind this treatment because it was often deserved. As a meeter of deadlines, I was, how shall we put this, not good, which often led to my under the bus-ness. The part that bothered me was the fact that I would be "thrown under the bus" without a trace of irony.

"Dude, she threw you under the bus," someone would say, never acknowledging the fact that I was the editor of a magazine about buses. Maybe it was too obvious. Maybe the irony was there and I somehow missed it like I missed the deadlines. Anyway, I digress. . .

What I wanted to do was provide you with a link to an opinion piece in the Washington Post about the overuse of "under the bus." It's true, you hear it everywhere. In covering the presidential campaign, political pundits toss the phrase around like confetti. And we're all getting tired of it, especially those of us in bus-related industries. Why couldn't the phrase be, "under the semi"? Or "under the steamroller"? Or, even better, "under the SUV"? Why do buses have to be the instrument of death?

If you can avoid it, don't use the phrase. It's only perpetuating a negative stereotype. For this small favor, the bus industry thanks you.

Until next time.

Steve

Comments

[Dwight]

Since I know a person who was knocked down by a turning bus, resulting in their feet being run over, I would refrain from using such a stupid expression.

[Mighk]

"Under a Hummer" has a nice ring to it.