We’re tossing in the flag

Alex Sherman, media reporter for CNBC, was commenting on MSNBC’s 11th Hour about the actor and writer strikes and how Disney CEO Iger and other studio execs have been ineffective in their response. This is a congruent conflation of “toss in the towel” and “wave the white flag”, both meaning to give up on an endeavor. The speaker may have been thinking of a football line judge throwing a penalty flag, or color guard flag tosses?

A big thank you to Bruce Ryan and Jim Kozlowski who heard this one and sent it in within minutes of each other.