# Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (her brilliant retort to Yoho) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 24, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220 "2020-07-24T14:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/101 "2020-07-25T02:55:15Z")
So can being called a “fucking bitch”. Surely you’re more concerned with that? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/102 "2020-07-25T02:55:18Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > It wouldn’t make it OK if he had been. > > Calling women misogynist names when you think only men can hear you is no better than calling black people racist names if you think only white people can hear you. Nonsense. Context is everything. I have never met a woman who hasn’t called another woman a bitch as some point in their life. Does that make that woman a misogynist? Hell, I’d bet all I had AOC has called some women a bitch at some point in her life. “Bitch” is equivalent to dick or asshole or prick or douchebag. You are saying you do not like a person because you find that person especially unlikable. By this one utterance alone I do not think you can draw a conclusion that Yoho hates all women. He very well might but him saying this does not make that case. That is far different from using racist names where you are intimating that you dislike everyone of a particular race. The issue here is Yoho saying it publicly, in the capitol to a co-worker in front of witnesses which included the press. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/103 "2020-07-25T02:57:58Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > It’s a very common idiom. Many common idioms are offensive: “He Jewed me down” etc. But she didn’t even use the idiom! She translated it into its more direct literal meaning, making it much more jarring. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/104 "2020-07-25T03:01:08Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > “He Jewed me down” That’s common? Not where I live. I’ve, maybe, heard that a couple times in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/105 "2020-07-25T03:03:23Z")
I’m curious, what corner of the world do you live in that you’ve rarely heard that phrase before? I’ve been hearing that phrase my whole life. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/106 "2020-07-25T03:06:25Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I’m curious, what corner of the world do you live in that you’ve rarely heard that phrase before? Chicago. Metro area of around 8.5 million (give or take). I’ve heard it. I just don’t hear it used almost ever. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/107 "2020-07-25T03:10:14Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > life. > > “Bitch” is equivalent to dick or asshole or prick or douchebag. “Bitch” is exactly equivalent to what women say it is. Not what men excuse it to ‘only’ be. I will repeat that: “bitch” is exactly equivalent to what women define it to be and we have exactly defined this to be demeaning and insulting _in this context_. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > That is far different from using racist names where you are intimating that you dislike everyone of a particular race. No, this EXACTLY like that. Exactly. No wiggle room here. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/108 "2020-07-25T03:10:30Z")
Of everything in that speech, is the idiomatic phrase about her father really what everyone wants to focus on? I mean, obviously Slacker does–but everyone else? That’s not what the speech is about. Please don’t let that become what the thread is about. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/109 "2020-07-25T03:12:56Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > No, this EXACTLY like that. Exactly. No wiggle room here. Exactly. So, if AOC ever called another woman a bitch in her life then AOC is a misogynist who hates all women and is the same as a racist? 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/110 "2020-07-25T03:13:09Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > It’s a very common idiom. > > Many common idioms are offensive: “He Jewed me down” etc. But she didn’t even use the idiom! She translated it into its more direct literal meaning, making it much more jarring You’ve never seen a TV show or movie where someone says “Just be glad your sainted mother isn’t alive to hear that!” ? If you’ve never heard it before, you need to get out more. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/111 "2020-07-25T03:15:30Z")
I loved the speech. At the start, I wondered where she was going with it. By the end, I was a little teary. She’s right that we hear bs like what Yoho said all our lives, to where it’s hardly remarked on, but it needs to be. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/112 "2020-07-25T03:18:05Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I’ve been hearing that phrase my whole life. I haven’t heard it since the last time I called somebody on it. Don’t remember the exact year, but it’s got to be over thirty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/113 "2020-07-25T05:01:13Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > the idiomatic phrase about her father I think it’s a cringey idiom that should be retired (one pictures an old Irish Catholic geezer nattering on and on about “your sainted mother” while laying on some kind of slut-shaming guilt trip, which doesn’t strike me as AOC’s brand). But again: _she did not use the idiom._ Idiomatic phrases have very specific wordings. That’s what an idiom literally is. The idiom is “I’m glad so-and-so isn’t here to hear that.” Not “so-and-so, thankfully, is not alive”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/114 "2020-07-25T05:05:43Z")
You seem to be the only one cringing. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/115 "2020-07-25T05:09:44Z")
## Description An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom’s figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom) You are outnumbered, _literally_. Everyone seems to agree but you. Give it up (don’t look now SlackerInc, but that was an idiom). ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/116 "2020-07-25T05:22:44Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Give it up (don’t look now SlackerInc, but that was an idiom). Yes, it sure is. So is “donate it high” the same idiom? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/117 "2020-07-25T05:56:18Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > “My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter.” > > Still not any better IMO. My dad also died young, and thereby missed out on seeing some bad things happen to me. I don’t think that’s a worthwhile tradeoff! I’d rather he still be around. Just me, I guess? Just you, dude. ETA: I can be thankful that my mother doesn’t have to see something (because she is dead) yet overall still mourn her death. Somehow you have arrived at the conclusion that this is a contradiction, but it isn’t. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/118 "2020-07-25T05:59:17Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I think it’s a cringey idiom that should be retired > [@Czarcasm](#): > > You seem to be the only one cringing. I agree with **Czarcasm**. I’m pretty sure everyone understands that the person speaking is not saying they are happy their parent is dead. They are saying they are happy their parent does not have to witness what they have been subjected to. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/119 "2020-07-25T06:14:16Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > This speech reveals how empty conservatism is of any of the values it purportedly upholds. Ultimately, conservative means nothing except preserving the status quo hierarchy for its own sake. I am compelled to point out that this appears to be an illicit process: - All Representative-Yoho are conservatives. - No Representitive-Yoho are consistent with conservative values. - Therefore, no conservatives are consistent with conservative values. The correct conclusion would be that _some_ conservatives are hypocrites, but that’s significantly less useful as hyperbole. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-brilliant-retort-to-yoho/916220/120 "2020-07-25T11:07:31Z")
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