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This is off-topic and doesn't address the actual content of the article, but... "Trim a Bloated Ship"? That metaphor could use some work. How does a ship bloat?

This is off-topic and doesn't address the actual content of the article, but... "Trim a Bloated Ship"? That metaphor could use some work. How does a ship bloat? And wouldn't a bloated ship float pretty well? If you use the common meaning of trim (honestly, how many mariners read the NYT?), isn't cutting bits off a ship a bad thing? I guess it could be worse. I'll give thanks that Thomas Friedman didn't write it.

iloveyouocean 15y ago
See also:'trimming sails' as it relates to sailboats.
wmoser 15y ago
At least one. Trimming is also the term we use when adjusting the ballast or cargo so the ship floats differently in the water. Never heard of a bloated ship before.
bobbles 15y ago
He is certainly shaving the google watermelon, thats for sure!
exit 15y ago
mixing metaphors isn't the end of the world. "bloated" is used metaphorically so often only the "ship" part strikes me as non-literal.
spodek 15y ago
It means it has too much pork. They should trim the fat so they don't have as much red tape. Once they're on track, it'll be full steam ahead and smooth sailing.
MahmoodM 15y ago
Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.
philwelch 15y ago
"A newly invented metaphor assists thought by evoking a visual image, while on the other hand a metaphor which is technically "dead" (e.g. iron resolution) has in effect reverted to being an ordinary word and can generally be used without loss of vividness. But in between these two classes there is a huge dump of worn-out metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves. Examples are: Ring the changes on, take up the cudgel for, toe the line, ride roughshod over, stand shoulder to shoulder with, play into the hands of, no axe to grind, grist to the mill, fishing in troubled waters, on the order of the day, Achilles' heel, swan song, hotbed. Many of these are used without knowledge of their meaning (what is a "rift," for instance?), and incompatible metaphors are frequently mixed, a sure sign that the writer is not interested in what he is saying. Some metaphors now current have been twisted out of their original meaning without those who use them even being aware of the fact. For example, toe the line is sometimes written as tow the line. Another example is the hammer and the anvil, now always used with the implication that the anvil gets the worst of it. In real life it is always the anvil that breaks the hammer, never the other way about: a writer who stopped to think what he was saying would avoid perverting the original phrase." --George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language", 1946 (emphasis added)
StuffMaster 15y ago
Well...a bloated ship won't sail well. Galleons held plenty of cargo but were slow and unwieldy.

iloveyouocean 15y ago

See also:'trimming sails' as it relates to sailboats.

wmoser 15y ago

At least one. Trimming is also the term we use when adjusting the ballast or cargo so the ship floats differently in the water. Never heard of a bloated ship before.

bobbles 15y ago

He is certainly shaving the google watermelon, thats for sure!

exit 15y ago

mixing metaphors isn't the end of the world. "bloated" is used metaphorically so often only the "ship" part strikes me as non-literal.

spodek 15y ago

It means it has too much pork. They should trim the fat so they don't have as much red tape. Once they're on track, it'll be full steam ahead and smooth sailing.

MahmoodM 15y ago

Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.

philwelch 15y ago

"A newly invented metaphor assists thought by evoking a visual image, while on the other hand a metaphor which is technically "dead" (e.g. iron resolution) has in effect reverted to being an ordinary word and can generally be used without loss of vividness. But in between these two classes there is a huge dump of worn-out metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves. Examples are: Ring the changes on, take up the cudgel for, toe the line, ride roughshod over, stand shoulder to shoulder with, play into the hands of, no axe to grind, grist to the mill, fishing in troubled waters, on the order of the day, Achilles' heel, swan song, hotbed. Many of these are used without knowledge of their meaning (what is a "rift," for instance?), and incompatible metaphors are frequently mixed, a sure sign that the writer is not interested in what he is saying. Some metaphors now current have been twisted out of their original meaning without those who use them even being aware of the fact. For example, toe the line is sometimes written as tow the line. Another example is the hammer and the anvil, now always used with the implication that the anvil gets the worst of it. In real life it is always the anvil that breaks the hammer, never the other way about: a writer who stopped to think what he was saying would avoid perverting the original phrase." --George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language", 1946 (emphasis added)

StuffMaster 15y ago

Well...a bloated ship won't sail well. Galleons held plenty of cargo but were slow and unwieldy.