Full court...

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Madhulk  #514407  Fri, 16 May 08 01:27 PM
 I mean, Lois isn't exactly a pushover. It's impossible to break

her full-Court power of the press.

What does the underlined mean? 

  
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Delmobile  #514467  Fri, 16 May 08 04:16 PM
Basketball term.  It's a powerful defense. Also, it's a pun mixing up the terms "full-court press" and "power of the press." Press in the first is a verb, in the second is a noun meaning newspapers, etc. 
  
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Armsys  #515075  Sun, 18 May 08 02:45 AM

Now I'm confused.

1. What does it mean by "full-court" here?

2. What does it mean by "press"--newspaper and pushing?

Please help. Thanks.

Armstrong

  
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Delmobile  #515080  Sun, 18 May 08 03:27 AM
A "full-court press" is a defensive move in basketball, which is a game that is played on a marked area of floor called a court. In this case "press" refers to the action of pressing, or pushing. 

"Press" also means a machine that prints words on paper, and by extension the business of publishing. "The press" can refer to newspapers and the people who work for them. "The power of the press" is a phrase referring to the power that newspapers and magazines can wield over others; for instance, exposing a scandal can ruin a politician's career. 

The quoted line mixes up these two phrases in a play on words. Lois doesn't just have "power" of the press---she has "full-court power."

 

  
Armsys  #515088  Sun, 18 May 08 04:24 AM
Thanks a lot for your helpful explanation.
  
Delmobile  #515264  Sun, 18 May 08 06:30 PM
Happy to have been of service :) 
  
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