May 2, 2019

"'Both sides' rip u 2 shreds if u don't tow their line" — should be "toe their line," but I know what you mean, Cher.


One hour later...

47 comments:

Mike Sylwester said...

That's a beautiful bust.

Ann Althouse said...

If you click through to the Forbes article you get a large picture of Sonny and Cher, which includes their heads. It's Twitter's software that caused the picture to get framed like that and I don't think Cher would have seen that before she published her tweet. This is a problem with Twitter and should be fixed. Cher didn't mean to post look at my breasts.

tim in vermont said...

We got you babe!

David Begley said...

Sure she did, Ann. Sure she did.

tim in vermont said...

“Math is hard!” - Cher

I’ve Got You Babe is one of the best feel good songs ever, BTW.

Fernandinande said...

Bodhicitta’ is a wish to attain Enlightenment

I thought it was Swedish ice cream. Thanks, Cher!

Stephen Taylor said...

Even Saul had his moment of enlightenment. Perhaps Cher is on the road to Damascus, although her awakening seems to be somewhat more gradual. Don't know about her politics, but I've always enjoyed her music and her acting; I also admire the way she keeps reinventing herself to keep her career alive. My wife says that only cockroaches and Cher will survive a nuclear holocaust.

michaele said...

That is a thoughtful and honest article article by Michael Bernick. It is shocking and concerning how many social services have been cut or eliminated for legal CA residents who have severe disabilities. Obviously, it has been decided by state gov't officials that the money once allotted to providing for them is needed elsewhere. Providing for newly arriving illegal immigrants has to be costly...it is very unfair to legal residents not to have an honest accounting of what it costs to be caring for this flood of families.

tim maguire said...

I DESPISE trump,&HIS LOATHSOME’SYCOPHANTS’...BOTH SIDES’ RIP U 2 SHREDS IF U DONT TOW
THEIR LINE.


Which is worse, the ones who know not what they do or the ones who know but do it anyway?

Still, I like Cher as an artist and I expect my artists to have stupid politics so this doesn't change anything for me.

Kylos said...

It happens with Facebook too. My brother posed an ad there that cropped off the head of the person in the photo.

PJ said...

Cher is to be respected for, among other things, feeling like a coward when she backs down from her beliefs. One can.experience that feeling only if one has taken the trouble to form genuine beliefs in the first place. The problem with mere virtue-signallers is that their public expressions do not spring from genuine beliefs but from calculations concerning social advantage.

traditionalguy said...

The whole mess comes from eliminating the boundaries. A Society lives or dies by respecting the boundaries. Take down all fences/rules and you get a preventable tragedy until someone with courage remembers the boundaries and re-erects them.

And then the planners of lawlessness who diligently took down our boundaries need to be exposed and punished. Maduro's marxist Venezuela is an example. This USA was near death from Obama's plans for taking down our boundaries until Trump's courage rescued us.

Henry said...

The whole point is the All. That's what makes it an ethic instead of a candy bar.

To seek to attain compassion for all beings is to seek to change oneself. You're not changing everyone else. They're just what they are.

Sebastian said...

"’BOTH SIDES’ RIP U 2 SHREDS IF U DONT TOW THEIR LINE"

When did the right rip anyone to shreds? Particularly, anyone in Hollywood or entertainment? Like, with a mean Trump tweet, or a Rush riff? Best I can tell, that's about the extent of righty ripping.

etbass said...

Not too much sympathy for Cher and the exposure of her breasts. Any public figure who deliberately displays them for a photographer for publication should be prepared to have them shown anywhere else. Does she value modesty? Then keep a little cover.

mockturtle said...

Both 'toe the line' and 'tow the line' are correct in the proper context. A boat that is slogging along in the river need people on the shore pulling ropes to help it along--towing the line.

traditionalguy said...

Cher is entertainment. All American in every way. Why would we care whether she hates Trump’s style , she is still Cher.

iowan2 said...

Something must be happening. The Republican majority leader Doug Collins is ripping Nadler apart. This is a nasty public display. Nadler is looking like a ass.
Nadler refused to recognize a parliamentary point of order and closed the meeting. What is Nadler afraid of.

JackWayne said...

Toe the line is the original usage. Boxers had to step up to the line drawn in the dirt or sand indicating they were ready to begin fighting. That happened in every round. Failure to toe the line meant you were finished. What meaning does tow the line have to indicate that you must/ are ready to follow the rules?

Vancouver Locksmiths said...

Cher is entertainment, that right

Automatic_Wing said...

It's ridiculous to think that you can weigh in on politics while maintaining "compassion for all". All policies have winners and losers, and it's a zero sum game to a large extent. It would help a lot if people like Cher acknowledged this, instead of hiding behind their fake universal compassion.

Ann Althouse said...

It's "toe the line." But if you adopt "tow the line," you can come up with an image that you think is the idea — even when it isn't, as with Cher's quote. People want you to tow/toe the line — that means they want you to stay in the conventional place, follow their rules. It has nothing to do with pulling a barge along a canal. And notice that the words are wrong for that. It should be "tow the barge," not "the line." When you tow something, you tow the heavy thing that needs to be moved, not the equipment that attaches you to the heavy thing.

Jupiter said...

"Cher didn't mean to post look at my breasts."

Well, we all knew Sonny was the one with the brains.

tim in vermont said...

What about “draggin’ the line”?

Wince said...

Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Actually Cher - only the left rip people to shreds. **Note The corrupt institution called The SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW INSTITUTE.

Soros is your master, dear Cher. Obey.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Cher should open up her mansions to the poor. I'd have a huge pile of respect for her. Lead the way, Cher.

Lucien said...

Pointing out that it’s “toe the line” is a hard road to hoe. You have to run the gamut of descrpivists until they’ve shot their wad (which they think is sexual).

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Cher again?!?!?
Geez-- this feels like Groundhog Day

mockturtle said...

It should be "tow the barge," not "the line." When you tow something, you tow the heavy thing that needs to be moved, not the equipment that attaches you to the heavy thing.

When the Lewis and Clark expedition made their way down river, there were places where their keel boats and pirogues could not pass. Men were assigned to the shore to pull ropes to assist the boat down river. Thus 'towing the line'. Perhaps they weren't as syntactically analytical as Althouse, however.

Curious George said...

"Well, we all knew Sonny was the one with the brains."

Well, up to the point that he hit that tree, sure.

Jim Gust said...

I agree with mockturtle. "towing the line" is active, it is work. "toeing the line" is standing still, waiting to do something, waiting for a signal. when someone demands that the line must be towed, they are not asking anyone to stand in place and wait. they want action.

yes, it's the barge that is being towed, but the men who are being told to get the barge moving are told to "tow the line" so they know what to do.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"...with kids in toe(sic)"

rcocean said...

Nice that Cher is on our side sometimes. But she's still dumb as a brick.

rcocean said...

And when did people stop understanding its "toe the line"? Or maybe most people never understood it, but you never say their misspellings because there no internet?

Tow that Line, lift that bale.

Mattman26 said...

"Draggin' the line" gives us our second Tommy James reference this week!

Bay Area Guy said...

Senator Warren has found a compelling campaign song via the great Cher.

gerry said...

My wife says that only cockroaches and Cher will survive a nuclear holocaust.

Why did you repeat yourself?

Gahrie said...

Sonny was definitely the brains of that duo. It's a shame he had that skiing accident, who knows how far he would have gone.

Known Unknown said...

Those aren't even her breasts anymore.

Curious George said...

"it's a shame he had that skiing accident"

It's the first recorded instance of sap running into a tree.

Pokerone said...

This could go on forever:

Lucien said:

"Pointing out that it’s “toe the line” is a hard road to hoe."

It's, "Hard row to hoe."

Fernandinande said...

Cher rode a hard hoe just to hardly tow the road ho's two toes, too.

Dad29 said...

Tow/Toe is the latest sure sign of the decline of the West.

Last one? Reign/Rein. That may have to do with the dominance of cars, rather than horses, as transportation, however.

n.n said...

The rate of immigration should not exceed the rate of assimilation and integration before planned parenthood. Also, there is a progressive risk forced by immigration reform including illegal immigration and unquarantined immigration that is a first-order forcing of the current phobic demand for "universal" vaccination, less marginal, short-term immunity, and ineligible American women, men, and children.

tim in vermont said...

It's, "Hard row to hoe."

I worked on a vegetable farm one summer before college. I remember being given a how and was given a row, along with a couple of other workers, and hoe out any grass growing near the plants. I said “But there’s hardly any grass on my row!” and the boss said “Be happy!” Then I knew what “hard row to hoe” meant, having been given an easy row to hoe.

Ken B said...

towe. Towe the line.