get mileage out of

Question

I need help with the meaning of this expression: to get mileage out of something. (I suppose we are not talking about real 'miles'...).

"Interesting that Giles complains about Jews getting "mileage" out of the Holocaust, when he is still trying to get mileage out of the Civil War..."

What would be another way of saying this?

Pieanne · Accepted Answer

Get some kind of bonus, of plus, I guess?

Clive · Answer

Hi guys,

If I get a lot of mileage out of my car, it means I use my car a lot. If I get a lot of my mileage out of my microwave, it means I use it a lot.

If I'm a writer and I get a lot of mileage out of my childhood experiences, it means I use them a lot, in other words I write about them a lot. It tends to be a little derogatory, in the sense that as the writer, I overuse references to my childhood experiences. It also implies that, instead of being sincerely interested in analysing my childhood experiences, I am just using them to sell books.

Interesting that Giles complains about Jews getting "mileage" out of the Holocaust, when he is still trying to get mileage out of the Civil War..."

So, you might say this in this way. It's ironic that Giles complains about Jews constantly talking about the Holocaust, since he himself is constantly talking about the Civil War.

Please note that if Gilles indeed complains about Jews using the Holocaust in this way, most Jews will be angry and very deeply offended.

Best wishes, Clive

Mister Micawber · Answer

Yes, the idea is to gain maximum advantage from whatever. Giles and the Jews are not simply talking about those terrible events, but are using them as defense, rationale, corroboration, motive, and so forth (I quote the opinion of the writer, of course).

Nyarlathotep · Answer

A more common and slightly crude phrase with the same meaning is 'to milk it'. When one milks a cow, one assumedly keeps milking it until one has acquired as much milk as one thinks possible. The same can apply to anything you wish. Similarly, the phrase 'to milk it dry' emphasises that the object has been used to excess, and (not always literally) cannot be used any longer.

In this excerpt, as Signor Micawber pointed out, the phrase seems to give the impression that the war is being exploited as some sort of defensive argument, and will continue to be milked thus until it ceases to work as such (i.e. when its usefulness as a defense expires).

We might say that they are clutching at straws in their excessive milking.

-Nyarlathotep

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