The McCain camp thought the interview with Campbell was "over the line."
What's that mean? Dictionary was no help.
What's that mean? Dictionary was no help.
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over the line
The McCain camp thought the interview with Campbell was "over the line."
What's that mean? Dictionary was no help.
I don’t know the context here or even who Campbell is but the phrase could mean the interview was “unfair” or “over the line of decency” (or civility).
"Over the line" or "crossing the line" means going too far in a figurative sense -- being rude, tasteless, deliberative provocative, etc. You won't find it in a dictionary because it's a saying, not an individual word.
Thanks Uriel.
I loved Campbell ever since ;o) Oh, speaking of the phrase 'crossing the lines," with Walmart almost imposing on its employees to vote for a certain party, I remember an analyst/attorney saying that "Walmart walked up to the line but didn't cross it."
The origin of the expression may actually come from a physical act. In the old days, a guy would sometimes challenge another by drawing a line in the dirt at his feet, and telling his adversary that if they crossed that line, it was on (there would be a fight). In a literal sense, he was challenging them to invade his personal space, and so instigate a fistfight. "Lines in the sand" is another phrase relating to figurative boundaries that harks back to this practice.
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