I know I've ragged on foreign, non-English-speaking instructors about being hard to understand. While I still maintain that that's true, I have concluded that native English speakers can also be just as enigmatic. In class today, discussing the use of federal policy to effect changes in geographically-based disparities of access to health care, the professor said this:

"It's like using a sledgehammer to kill a gnat. In fact, you might not even kill the gnat but let the genie out of the bottle."

Huh? I glanced around the room and spotted a few cocked heads, working hard to process both the absurdity and ostensible profundity of her mixed metaphors. I promptly erupted in laughter and the whole class stared at me. At least it shows I was paying attention...