Weapon of mass distraction
Posted by ESC on February 14, 2003
weapon of mass distraction n.
Something that distracts
large numbers of people from thinking about
important issues.
Example Citation
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For
a few hours at least today, the heat will be off George W Bush as America switches
focus from Baghdad to San Diego. Maybe the Super Bowl will be the weapon of mass
distraction that Bush has been praying for.
--James Corrigan, "Cinderella really
goes to the bowl," Independent
on Sunday (London), January 26, 2003
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"Weapon
of mass distraction" is a pun-perfect play on "weapon of mass destruction." The
latter phrase (in its plural form) was voted word (or, in this case, phrase) of
the year for 2002 by the American
Dialect Society. Researcher Fred Shapiro
has traced this phrase back to 1937, so it's surprising that the obvious "weapon
of mass distraction" pun didn't appear earlier than 1996, when M*A*S*H creator
Larry Gelbart used it as the title of an HBO movie (see
below).
Earliest
Citation
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That lesson was reinforced for
Danny Schechter when he covered one of the biggest stories of the decade: the
election that brought Nelson Mandela to power in South Africa. The U.S. networks
weren't interested in his vivid, insider's account of the Mandela campaign --
and this at a time when hundreds of hours were broadcast about the O. J. Simpson
trial. No wonder the creator of M.A.S.H. called TV "the weapon of mass distraction."
--Michele
Landsberg, "No room for human rights on TV's agenda of
greed," The Toronto
Star, December 7, 1997
Also
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Gabriel
Byrne ... will star in the HBO movie "Weapons of Mass Distraction," a black comedy
about two feuding media moguls who clash while vying to buy a Los Angeles sports
franchise.
--Marisa Guthrie, "Plugged In," The Boston Herald, November 17,
1996
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