“The Clutch is Engaging, but into Some Lower Gears Initially”—Use of Visual, Evocative Expression to Emphasize One’s Point

 Being finalized

“Strengthen the Quills of the Ukrainian Porcupine so that it’s Indigestible to the Russian Invaders”--Use of Visual, Evocative Expression to Emphasize One’s Point

(Rewritten November 18, 2022) 

Here is a recent example of a highly effective communicator using a vivid, evocative expression while emphasizing something and thus making his assertion indelible—an example which, I hope, will inspire the rest of us into similarly imaginative analogies, especially when we are trying to break through the clutter. 

• In an interview this past March, about five weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated emphatically that even if there were to be a ceasefire in the near future, “we must support a free and democratic Ukraine in the long term,” and it is therefore imperative that the West continues arming Ukraine, thus strengthening “the quills of the Ukrainian porcupine as to make it in future indigestible to the Russian invaders.” 

© Copyright 2022  V. J. Singal