Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hiromichi]

What does "tamp down on" below mean?


Mr. Dodd, who last week disclosed that he has prostate cancer, has been unusually busy this summer, leading an effort to pass legislation tamping down on the credit card industry and stepping in as acting chairman of the health committee amid the absence of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, who has brain cancer. The health committee has approved a sweeping bill to overhaul the health care system.
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Hiromichi

[redset]

Tamping can either mean filling a hole to block it, or gently pushing down on something to make it tightly compressed and level. If you've ever put soil in a pot for a plant, and then pushed down on the surface to pack the soil tightly, that's tamping.

So I'd read the quote to mean that Dodd has been attempting to push the credit card industry back, restricting its size and power, but in a gentle or limited way rather than a drastic and forceful one. So he's been taking small measures to keep the industry in check, like patting down soil instead of stamping on it with your foot!

[hiromichi]

redset:
I got it. Thank you very much for your clear answer.
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Hiromichi

[redset]

No probs!