New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz Report (October 10) runs an article under the title, “North Korean government reassures citizens “It had deep bench of brutal madmen.”
It begins with the following passage:
“As the mystery surrounding the absence of dictator Kim Jong-un
deepens, the North Korean government on Wednesday issued an official
statement reassuring its citizens that it had “a deep bench of brutal
madmen.” While it offered no comment about the status of Kim, the
statement from the Korean Central News Agency emphasized that “making
North Korea an authoritarian horror-drome is not the achievement of
one man; it has been and will always be a team effort.”
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/north-korean-government-reassures-citizens-deep-bench-brutal-madmen?
Though I assume “have a deep bench of (people)” means to have a large group / number of people being involved, is it a common English expression, or a particular phrase used by the North Korean government.
Additionally, is “authoritarian horror-drome” correct word? Readers English Japanese Dictionary at hand defines ‘-drome’ as a combination form to mean ‘an airport runway or a huge structure,' which doesn’t necessarily seem to fit the context of the sentence to me.
Best Answer
These are not necessarily the most reputable sources, but they adequately explain the two phrases in a way that makes sense to me, so hopefully they'll serve to answer your questions.
That means that the North Korean government has quite a few brutal madmen.
"-drome" is here being used in the latter sense, as a large structure (presumably where many might congregate for a spectacle, as they would at a racetrack). An authoritarian horror-drome is a government with quite a lot of horror going on.
I hope this helps!