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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

ambulance at the bottom of a cliff en · NOUN

Etymology

A variation on the Joseph Malins' 1895 poem "The ambulance down in the valley," where the need for an ambulance would be removed by a fence on the cliff.

Meanings

  1. (derogatory, figuratively) A futile or post factum answer to a problem.
    • But such a service could be seen as an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff. 2002 April 29, Julie Middleton, “Degree cheats graduate to big time”, in The New Zealand Herald:
    • A school with a poor intake is like an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff: sometimes, it can pick up the children and patch up the damage; most of the time, it's too late. 1999 September 14, Nick Davies, “Crisis, crisis, crisis: the state of our schools”, in The Guardian:
    • Funny place for the social, for the insects to start caring / Just an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff 1994, “Yes”, in The Holy Bible, performed by Manic Street Preachers:

Relateds

too little, too late

wikipedia: Joseph Malins