Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.86 in modern English

Syllables: re-ar-range the deck- chairs on the ti-tan-ic
IPA

55

Scrabble Score

34

Letters

6

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To do something pointless or insignificant that will soon be overtaken by events, or that contributes nothing to the solution of a current problem.

Example Sentences

"All the new people want an office close to the President's. You should see them scramble. It's like fighting for a deck chair on the Titanic."
"Administrators are running around straightening out deck chairs while the Titanic goes down."
"I'm not going to rearrange the furniture on the deck of the Titanic."
"Gordon Brown's decision to redefine Britain's economic cycle has been damned by one of the City's most influential economic forecasters, which accuses the Chancellor of the Exchequer of doing little more than "moving the deckchairs on the Titanic"."
""And then you write, ‘Oh, they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.’ First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg!""
"Inevitably, people have suggested that pulling a move to restore Cameron to the frontline is like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, but arguably that doesn’t really cover it."

Etymology

The Titanic was an ocean liner that sank on the morning of April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg. The phrase rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic implies trying to move the chairs on the deck around while the ship is sinking, a pointless activity.

Inflected Forms

rearranges the deck chairs on the Titanic (present, singular) rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic (participle, present) rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic (participle, past) rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic (past)

Phrases

count angels on pinheads fiddle while Rome burns

Frequently Paired Words

count angels on pinheads fiddle while Rome burns

Synonyms

move the deckchairs on the Titanic shift the deckchairs on the Titanic shuffle the chairs on the deck of the Titanic shuffle the deckchairs on the Titanic

Questions

What does rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic mean?: To do something pointless or insignificant that will soon be overtaken by events, or that contributes nothing to the solution of a current problem.
Where does rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic come from?: The Titanic was an ocean liner that sank on the morning of April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg. The phrase rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic implies trying to move the chairs on the deck around while the ship is sinking, a pointless activity.

How to pronounce rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic

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