(His performance) is like being flogged with a warm lettuce.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The performance is described as painful yet oddly soft or ineffective, like being hit with something limp.
- In plain terms
- It hurts but lacks real strength or impact.
- What can you take from it?
- Ineffective criticism can still feel unpleasant.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can something be painful without being strong?
- How do you describe a weak but annoying performance?
Another view
The imagery is vivid but relies on cultural understanding of the simile.
More from Paul Keating
This is the sort of little-boy, stamp your foot stuff which comes from a financial yuppie when you shoe him into parliament.
Permalink to quote #35 I'd put him in the same class as the rest of them: mediocrity.
Permalink to quote #37 I was implying that the Honourable Member for Wentworth was like a lizard on a rock - alive, but looking dead.
Permalink to quote #34
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