'Throwing shade': trash talk about politics takes a turn toward the hip
Throwing Shade. Talking trash publicly about someone. This is one of those hip expressions that didn鈥檛 start in politics, but increasingly has found a home in聽political commentary, punditry and analysis,聽as harsh critical rhetoric flows unabated.
MSNBC host Chris Hayes recently Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul鈥檚 disparaging comments about other potential White House candidates, including Paul鈥檚 Florida colleague Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Paul 鈥渉as been throwing shade left and right at some of his potential 2016 rivals,鈥� Hayes said.
House Speaker John Boehner won Internet fame 鈥� or infamy, depending on your perspective 鈥� for appearing to silently throw shade against President Obama during last month鈥檚 State of the Union address. As chronicled in a National Review listicle, the Ohio Republican while sitting behind Obama. They included a 鈥渟ad clap鈥� shade; a 鈥渘ot caring鈥� shade, reflecting the speaker鈥檚 dismissal of the president鈥檚 policy proposals; and a snarky, 鈥渓ook you up and down鈥� shade/smirk.
Of course, the SOTU shade-throwing went both ways. Toward the end of the speech, Obama responded to Republican jeers by noting he had won two presidential elections and the right to stand at the speaker鈥檚 rostrum outlining his vision for the country. 鈥淣ot saying Obama was throwing shade last night, but that ad lib about winning both of his elections just solved Global Warming,鈥� Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon .
The phrase has grown so popular 鈥� it was used in coverage of both the and halftime , as well as in 聽鈥搕hat it found its way into a recent article in Roll Call, the Capitol Hill publication, about the Congressional Budget Office. 鈥淭he agency shouldn鈥檛 be surprised if folks on Capitol Hill stop taking its calls altogether 鈥� particularly since the telecommunications gods appear to already be throwing shade,鈥� reporter Warren Rojas above a photo of a critical-looking telephone caller-ID readout.
And its political usage has even crossed international boundaries. Earlier this week, The Guardian to describe an Australian politician who challenged Prime Minister Tony Abbott: 鈥�Malcolm Turnbull is not throwing shade at the prime minister just for kicks, he鈥檚 surfing the prevailing sentiment in the partyroom.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark write their "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Decoder Voices.聽
