whistle-stop tour
2
7.1
- noun
- /ˈhwɪsəlˌstɑp tʊr/
:
gira de paradas breves
- He was kind enough to talk to me when he came to Taiwan as part of a whistle-stop tour of Asia.
- the president's whistle-stop tour
And what I want to do tonight may be a little bit ambitious, but I'm hoping to take you on a whistle stop tour thru some of the ideas that have been involved.
- And what I want to do tonight may be a little bit ambitious, but I'm hoping to take you on a whistle stop tour thru some of the ideas that have been involved.
- So that's like kind of the very whistle stop tour, I guess.
Examples
-
In April 2008, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Pakistan as part of a whistle-stop tour of South Asia.
Academic text (2009) -
Verhofstadt is currently embarking on a whistle-stop tour promoting his thoughts on the future of Europe, one which outlines a post-nationalist solution to the EU's current woes.
Blog text (17) -
So Teddy Roosevelt took whistle stop tours on a train six weeks in the spring and in the fall.
-
President McKinley did a whistle-stop tour...
-
To gain more voter support, the candidate held a whistle-stop tour across several small towns.
-
During her whistle-stop tour, the politician stopped in five towns to meet residents.
-
As part of his campaign, he organized a whistle-stop tour that included brief visits to various local communities.
Synonyms
819
1.0
A trip visiting several places and returning to the start, usually for work or pleasure
2
8.7
A very quick visit that shows only the main places
1
6.9
A series of energetic political speeches in different places to gain support
How Extensive
18
2.5
819
1.0
- Literature
1
6.9
2
7.1
- UK
1
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
whistle-stop + tour
While 'tour' (a trip visiting places) is transparent, the modifier 'whistle-stop' is historically tied to brief railway stops and its sense of very short, perfunctory visits is not obvious from the literal words 'whistle' and 'stop' to a B1 learner. The combined meaning can be partially inferred (a tour made up of short stops), but because the usage is culturally specific and somewhat metaphorical rather than strictly compositional, it is not fully predictable.
Etymology
The phrase whistle-stop tour comes from old train travel: small trains would blow a whistle and make a quick stop at tiny stations so politicians could jump off, give a short speech, and move on. That's why a whistle-stop tour now means 'a series of quick visits to many places', often in small towns.