Gary Johnson, a former New Mexico governor and hopeless GOP hopeful for president, got off a good one in Thursday night’s debate, by getting scatological with a belonging trope called the synecdoche.
My next door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this president.
synecdoche (sin-ECK-doe-kee), a belonging trope. Takes a part or member and makes it represent the whole thing. From the Greek, meaning “swap.”
Figaro loves the expression “shovel ready” almost as much as he loves “boots on the ground.” Both of them are synecdoches, which take a lowly shovel or tan lace-ups and makes them stand for vast public-works projects or national invasions. Very cool. Gary Johnson uses it to form a smelly picture in the audience’s head, linking Obama’s stimulus to dog do. Democratic discourse at its best! (Johnson apparently stole the line from Rush Limbaugh, which makes it even better.)
In general, if you want to label something, use the belonging trope to create a positive or negative image. If you can be scatological to boot, why, you may qualify to run for president.