Sunday, July 15, 2012

american english - What is the meaning of this wisecrack "If you can't beat members of the "birther" movement, join 'em."?



I'm not an English native speaker and have no idea what is the meaning of this sentence:



"If you can't beat members of the "birther" movement, join 'em."



Could someone give me an explanation?



Answer



"Birthers" are those in the U.S. who believe President Obama was born in Kenya or some place other than the United States. They do not accept the validity of his Hawaiian birth certificate.



The expression, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," means that you've tried to work against a particular group or movement with no success, so you might as well give up and join up with them.



All that said, in the U.S. the "Birthers" have had no credibility for many years, so I'm not sure what the circumstances would be under which you'd be moved to join 'em.


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