‘A bridge too far’: Virus catchphrase taken from World War II

A British general’s pessimistic prediction about a World War II operation is showing up as a coronavirus-era catchphrase.

The top U.S. infectious disease expert, Dr.Anthony Fauci, urged caution in Senate testimony last week on reopening decisions, including about children and schools, saying“the idea of having treatments available or a vaccine to facilitate the reentry of students into the fall term would be something that would be a bit of a bridge too far.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has earned praise for aggressive measures to curb the spread of the virus, has used the phrase while explaining his decision to reverse himself on requiring people to wear masks in public because of negative feedback.

It was a mandate many people wouldn’t accept, he said on ABC’s “This Week,” calling it “a bridge too far.”

“Who knew?” said Alexander Lovelace, who just earned his doctorate in American military history at Ohio University after defending his dissertation on the role of the media in shaping Allied strategy in World War II, of the new use of the phrase popularized by journalist and author Cornelius Ryan with his 1974 book“A Bridge Too Far.”

“It is something that kind of works it way into popular culture without really thinking about it,” Lovelace said. “I guess it is a little odd comparing wearing a face mask to the Second World War.”

DeWine said he hadn’t read Ryan’s book, but was familiar with it. He said it was a good way to explain his belief that the masks “was one order too many”for many Ohioans.