Does this chilly January morning find Jack Frost nibbling your nose?
While watching news coverage of the New Hampshire primary over breakfast yesterday, I gagged on a banner caption that read:
Paul nibbling Romney’s heels
Once I got the unseemly visual out of my drowsy head, my next reaction was to laugh at the mixed-up phrase. In the race for the GOP nomination, Ron Paul is, figuratively, of course, “nipping at” Mitt Romney’s heels, not nibbling them.
Before I sent an e-dig to a friend who I knew was working on location for the station I was watching, I thought I’d better dig a little deeper. It seems the only error the station made was not putting the nibbling reference in quotes–and perhaps omitting “at.” Paul indeed said in a post-primary speech, “We’re nibbling at his heels.” (Again with the “we.”)
This might be the first time a candidate put his opponent’s foot in his mouth.
Word Nymph 