rake-stepping

English

Alternative forms

• rake stepping

Etymology

Popularised by a gag in the 1993 episode "Cape Feare" of The Simpsons, in which Sideshow Bob, already injured, accidentally steps on several rakes, causing the handles to hit him in the face.

Noun

rake-stepping (plural rake-steppings)

1. (slang) The act of repeatedly making damaging and avoidable mistakes.
   • 2019, Tina Nguyen, "Biden Advisers Worry the Gaffes Are Becoming a Problem", Vanity Fair, 13 August 2019:

     But the rake-stepping won’t stop, and the attacks won’t go away, raising the question of whether there will come a tipping point for Biden.

   • 2023, Mark Gongloff, "FEMA Isn’t Ready for Our New Age of Climate Disasters", Bloomberg, 12 September 2023:

     And despite occasional attempts at reform, usually in response to some epic rake-stepping by the agency, federal disaster relief has gotten no simpler or more effective.

   • 2024, Tom E. Curran, "Five burning questions the Patriots need to answer this summer", NBC Sports Boston, 19 June 2024:

     VP of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf oozes with, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing …” and has deftly escaped any blame for the personnel rake-stepping of the past few seasons.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:rake-stepping.

Related terms

• step on a rake

See also

• fuck around and find out
• Leopards Eating People's Faces Party
• make one's bed and lie in it
• play stupid games, win stupid prizes
• reap what one sows