Two mystery phrases...

Posted by Al on September 09, 2003

In Reply to: Two mystery phrases... posted by Tim Dean on September 09, 2003

: Does anybody know the origin and meaning of the following expressions? -

: "...on a hiding to nothing" (Am I right to think it means: 'following a course of action destined to fail' ?)

: "...by the same token..." (What's
this 'token' ?)

In contemporary US media "...by the same token..." seems to be a meaningless seque. The talking head wants to make two statements but risks being interrupted if there is a meaningful pause after the first statement.

• Two mystery phrases... James Briggs 09/September/03