what is the meaning of "in the red corner" & "in the blue corner" . In the red corner, Mr. Trump has refused to tone down his abrasive rhetoric against women, Latinos, Muslims, African-Americans and the differently abled ...
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They are boxing (and wrestling) terms and refer to the opposite corners of a boxing ring. Red and blue are the colours of the Republican and Democratic parties.– MickCommented Nov 5, 2016 at 13:52
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A clarification: the unofficial colors of the Republican and Democratic parties. It's just a standard that's evolved; there's no official blessing of the connection between parties and colors.– stangdonCommented Nov 5, 2016 at 15:46
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1I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it asks about the meaning of colors used for identification in context, and not about learning English.– user3169Commented Nov 5, 2016 at 18:57
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1 Answer
This is a metaphor that combines a political reference and a sports reference.
In the sport of boxing, the opponents each have a corner where they go for rest between rounds of the fight. Referring to someone "in the ____ corner" is a reference to this "sport."
"Red" and "blue" in this context have to do with how in some past presidential election, TV news settled on coloring states that were voting for the Republican candidate in red, and the Democratic candidate in blue.
So what this whole phrase means is that Donald Trump is said to be expressing the Republican view.
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Don't boxers also wear different coloured shorts? Hence I have always thought that in the "red corner" referred to where the boxer wearing red boxing shorts was sitting/standing, etc. But I haven't found any evidence to support that idea. Instead here's some more info: quora.com/… Commented Nov 5, 2016 at 17:45
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Some disagreement with
expressing the Republican view. IMO, it is a 'Trump' attitude that is being expressed while occupying a position on the Republican side. I wouldn't think of it as 'Republican' rather than simply 'a Republican individual'. I'd expect an official Republican stand that opposes that individual's apparent attitude. Commented Nov 5, 2016 at 19:37 -
@user2338816, that is precisely why I wrote "said to be" before the phrase you quoted. If you had read my comment completely and carefully, you wouldn't have needed to make your comment. Commented Nov 5, 2016 at 23:42
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Except that doesn't seem to be the case. He's apparently only "said to be" "in the red corner". You might be the only one attributing his attitudes to Republicans in general. (Without complete context from the OP, it's not certain.) Regardless, I was only commenting to state a reasonable minor edit. You don't have to make one. Commented Nov 6, 2016 at 2:58