Ein Kanon unter aller Kanone

[muckefuck]

Earlier in the week, my Thuringian coworker let me know that the shambolic attempt at a presentation by one of our colleagues was "unter aller Kanone". Literally, this means "under all cannon [sic]" and represents a German idiom that I wasn't previously familiar with. She mentioned that there was also a pseudo-Latinisation, sub omni canone.

Surprise! The "pseudo-Latin" is actually the original. According to Wikipedia, sub omni canone (more mellifluous in the plural, sub omnibus canonibus) is a consecrated phrase with which doctoral dissertations are rejected (back when they still used to do that regularly). Canon is used here with the sense of "standard" (metaphorically derived from its original meaning of "staff" or "measuring line"). Kanone is probably ultimately of the same origin (cf. Gk. κάννα "reed"), but comes into German through a different route.

Comments

[sandor-baci.livejournal.com]

You're a classy lot. My first phrase out of the pocket in situations like that is "Unter aller Sau". And I scratch myself in public, too.