Lots of reasons to hate Chris Matthews, but...

[Atman]

His self-promo ad on MSNBC wherein he says "you can give me the one-note wonders..." makes my skin crawl every time I hear it. I know it is very minor, but dammit, the term is ONE HIT WONDERS, not one note. As in, a band who was famous for only having one hit, then never did anything else. Not one note. You fucking idiot. How did this get past the editors?

That's my rant for today. Carry on.

[Mad-in-Mo]

1. I can barely watch him.

[Atman]

3. I don't.

But I watch MSNBC International on the interwebs. They replace the commercials with self-promos, which are generally horrible. Matthews' self-promos are the worst.

[madaboutharry]

2. I think he means something else.

I think he knows the difference and is using a play on words. I think he means politicians who keep talking about the same thing over and over. "One note" as in a politician who can only talk about abortion rights, or one who only talks about tax reform or whatever the one issue is that they can't get off off.

[Atman]

5. I think you're giving him far too much credit.

But that is certainly an interesting interpretation.

[skylucy]

4. Maybe he changed the word deliberately because the word "hit" is a positive term.

Ie. bands who had one big hit that people loved, as opposed to politicians who just go back to the same talking points...like a song with only one note played again and again. Not even good enough to be a One Hit Wonder.

[cyclonefence]

6. Come sit next to me, dear n/t

[wasupaloopa]

7. As in Johnny one note. Says same thing over and over

[rock]

8. Maybe he is confused with one note pony

[Wounded Bear]

9. Maybe he's a fan of Tenacious D...

[Leith]

12. Cute, But Somebody Got There First

Check out the opening of this song:

It's one of my favorites and a good song to work out to.

[procon]

10. To each their own; it's all "one-note wonders" around here.

The only time I've ever heard anyone say "one-hit wonders" was specific to sports. The reference to "note" seems more broadly used in the context of a stifling idea, creed or rant that is boringly, if not erroneously, repetitious. Might just be a regional idiom, but that's how it is here.

Chris Matthews, like most people who are not my identical clones, can be exasperating at times, but I reserve strong emotions like hate for people who deliberately work to make life more difficult for those who cannot fight back.

[Atman]

13. I've never heard the term until his commercial.

I'm 58. I've been around the block a few times. A one note wonder? Makes no sense. A one hit wonder is obvious...a band who had only one hit, but then never did anything else. What the hell is a one note wonder? A band that could only play one note?

[procon]

14. Google is chock full of the phrase.

Maybe you're just more cloistered than you thought, yeah?

[Atman]

15. Well, they're all using it wrong!

[Atman]

16. I Googled it. I am correct.

First, the term didn't even auto-fill, so it must not be that common. When I got the term, the first reference was to a discussion about "isn't the term 'one hit wonder?'" Followed by a reference to the Doc McStuffins cartoon. So, I'm pretty confident that I'm not cloistered. "One note wonder" is simply a misuse of the phrase.

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. The Oneders!

[canetoad]

17. One Note Samba

"There's so many people who can talk and talk and talk
And just say nothing or nearly nothing"

[panader0]

18. I play that song. Great tune.

[canetoad]

19. Hey panderO

What instrument?

[panader0]

20. Guitar---I have around 12.

About 8 amps, 2 PAs, two sets of drums, speakers, monitors etc.
My friends a I play twice a week or more--once electric and once acoustic.
Beer, buds, friends and music. We're all semi-retired construction trash,
living la pura vida.

[BigDemVoter]

21. I cant' understand how anybody can take him seriously.

He's constantly waxing nostalgic over the awful Reagan years, and he's obsessively religious, although he would deny it if asked. I cannot stand him. He knows nothing, and he never shuts up.

[sl8]

22. A mashup of two common idioms?

I haven't seen the commercial, but it sounds like they combined the idioms "one note" and "one hit wonder", similar to how "we'll burn that bridge when we come to it" came about.

Whether it was intentional or not, I don't know.

It might count as a malaphor:
https://malaphors.com/about/