4 | FEBRUARY 2 • 2023 

PURELY COMMENTARY

for opener
Over the Top
W

hen you hear the 
word exaggerate, 
you may think of 
someone telling you about 
the “one that got away.” 
However, tall 
fishing tales 
are not the 
only area for 
exaggeration. 
Many of 
us employ 
over-the-top 
expressions in 
conversations because they 
are more “colorful” and seem 
to get the point across better.
If you are telling someone 
not to make more of 
what they have heard 
than necessary, you may 
remind them not to make a 
mountain out of a molehill.
Someone who is trying 

to fool you may be trying 
to pull the wool over your 
eyes. And if they are making 
something plain seem better 
than it is, they are trying to 
gild the lily.
Do you know anyone 
who, in putting in their two 
cents’ worth, adds fuel to 
the fire? They often cannot 
wait to stab someone in the 
back. They may tone down, 
however, if they have their 
back against the wall.
Some folks are not happy 
unless they are grumbling; 
often their objections are so 
minor as to have them seem 
to be scraping the bottom of 
the barrel to object. If they 
achieve their aim, they are 
on cloud nine.
If you wish to remain alert 
to what is going on, you may 

wish to keep your ear to the 
ground. In seeking help, do 
not cry wolf; folks will learn 
to ignore you. You may also 
seem to be too much of an 
idealist: someone who builds 
castles in the air.
Ever felt out of place? Like 
a fish out of water? 
Want to make peace 
to end a long-standing 
argument? Then you need 
to bury the hatchet (but 
not in someone — that 
would blow everything out 

of proportion). Never go 
overboard.
Never won the lottery? 
Never left Vegas a real 
winner? Well, you would feel 
that those situations may 
occur when pigs fly.
If you feel as though 
you are using too many 
outrageous terms, then you 
may want to quit cold turkey. 
Just remember, as I have 
said a million times, our 
conversations need colorful 
expressions. 

Sy Manello 
Editorial 
Assistant

opinion

The Rampant Use ... and Abuse 
of the Holocaust Analogy

A 

new record may have 
just been set for the 
most Hitler analogies 
in a 24-hour period.
From Moscow to Mar-
a-Lago, 
public figures 
recently were 
inappropriately 
invoking Nazi-
related terms 
to denounce 
developments 
that did not at all 

resemble those of the Nazi era.
Russia’s Foreign Minister 
Sergei Lavrov declared that the 
United States and its European 
allies are attempting to solve 
“the Russian question” in the 
same way that “Hitler wanted 
a ‘final solution’ to the Jewish 
question.”
Meanwhile, more than 5,000 
miles away, former President 
Donald Trump tweeted that 
the FBI agents who removed 
classified government 

Rafael 

Medoff
Jewish 
Journal/ 
JNS

continued on page 5

Everyone is comparing everyone else to the Nazis.

