Rob's Random Research for the Day (part II)

Last time we discovered the origins of the word "spatula" as I'm sure your minds all rested easy having the question finally answered.

Today I wondered where in the heck the phrase "throw them under the bus," came from. We hear it all the time, I say it from time to time. What the heck does it even mean?!? The meaning we use it for seems like it would make more sense if it were "throw them to the wolves," or some other term indicating "blame him not me." But why would someone throw someone under the bus? Does the bus running over that person satisfy some need the bus has and ergo will not run you over? Is the bus a idol god requiring a sacrifice? These questions prompted my search.

Here is what I found:

"In an interview with NEWSWEEK, William Safire, the author of "Safire's Political Dictionary," traced the popularization of the phrase back to Cyndi Lauper, who jauntily tossed her critics "under the bus" after the release of her debut album "She's So Unusual" in 1983, says Safire. But he suspects that the phrase has deeper roots in minor-league baseball, where players are almost always bused to away games. In fact, its original meaning could be have been quite literal: be on time for the bus, or you will be thrown underneath it, into the storage bays. He says the metaphor has also been used as a way to say "get with it, or get lost," as in "you're either on the bus, or you're under it." He isn't quite sure when the meaning of the phrase crystallized into the act of 'summarily and decisively rejecting someone.'"

These euphemisms are interesting to me, because it wasn't even originally said with the meaning that we now attribute to it. Somehow it evolved to what is is now, no doubt perpetuated by someone wildly popular and influential, like myself. It really is a conundrum to decide what to do with all this power. Apparently, I have chosen to create a blog of meandering thoughts to mold the minds of a handful of people.