Cartoon : Hard to swallow something being shoved down your throat

Political cartoon by Steve Kelley of The New Orleans Times-Picayune published on 28 August 2009.

In the cartoon critical of the socialized health care program that President Obama wants to put in place, we have two good idiomatic expressions:

1. to find something hard to swallow – If you find something hard to swallow, you find it difficult to accept or deal with

French university students found the new reforms proposed by the government hard to swallow.

2. to shove something down someone’s throat – To shove means to push something with force, so, if you shove something down someone’s throat, you are forcing them to accept something against their will. You can also replace the verb shove with the verbs force, ram or stuff.

I don't want any more insurance, and I don't want anyone to shove any insurance down my throat.

Please don't try to stuff those lies down our throats.

Don't try to force that car down my throat! I don't want it!