Learn English – Is “Trees are the right height” an established phrase? What does it mean

phrases

Many newspapers reported that Mitt Romney praised his home state, Michigan in front of 1,200 supporters on Friday afternoon, by saying:

"What a thrill it is to come back to Michigan, particularly in the winter, where the skies are cloudy all day, trees are just at the right height, almost all the cars you see are American-made — the way they ought to be,"

According to www.huffington post.com, Romney used his favorite phrase, “trees are just at the right height” more than once in his speeches, e.g.

“I love being in Michigan. Everything seems right here; the trees are the right height. The grass is the right color for this time of year, kind of a brownish-greenish sort of thing. It just feels right.” in the speech in a social club in November 2011.

"What a thrill it is to come back to Michigan, particularly in the winter, where the skies are cloudy all day, trees are just at the right height, almost all the cars you see are American-made – the way they ought to be," at Lawrence Technological University in Detroit rally in January 2008 in the Presidential race.

Is “trees are just at the right height” a proverbial expression? It sounds odd to me, because every tree has its own height unless they are artificially, evenly trimmed by men.

What does “trees are just at the right height” mean? Is this a routine phrase, or just his creation attempted to resonate the heart of countrymen?

Best Answer

The trees are the right height is not an established phrase, but it describes Romney's opinion that Michigan is the ideal place. Take for example the last example you cited (emphasis added):

What a thrill it is to come back to Michigan, particularly in the winter, where the skies are cloudy all day, trees are just at the right height, almost all the cars you see are American-made - the way they ought to be

That is, the trees are the right height because Michigan is perfect. Even though trees naturally grow at different rates, he is saying that--in a idealistic way--they're wonderful that way. For example, you could borrow the same rhetoric about another place, and says something like:

New York City is such a wonderful place. The buildings are the right height, and even the amount of smog is perfect.

Of course, this doesn't have quite the same effect but it's written with the same meaning: a place that is so great that everything is perfect. Note that this is not proverbial, but I believe that a native speaker would usually understand you if you chose to use the same sentiment in a different context.

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