This is what we are dealing against

In a PBS Newshour story (August 31) about the effect of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee-Sheng was talking about the difficulties of residents just getting basic services, and uttered this congruent conflation of “dealing with” and “up against”, both referring to facing difficult challenges or problems. A shout out to Paula Garrety for hearing this one and sending it in. Our thoughts are with all of those folks in Louisiana.