Tail-end

Question

Hi,"The experience was probably the same whether you were in the "spin-room" adjacent to the university auditorium in Michigan where the rivals were debating or watching on television. It was agonising. For myself, I just knew, even as Rick Perry started his sentence, that the tail-end of it was going to elude him."  [From The Independent.]Could the "tail-end" elude him? In my opinion, Rick Perry was going to face some sort of tail-end, this way or other, so in what way it was going to elude him...eluds me I'm afraid.Thank you.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

The listener anticipated the speaker's remark. Perhaps it was more than just a single sentence. I'm not sure.

Anyway, let's say that when Perry launched into that ill-fated statement, the listener anticipated trouble.
"The tail-end" refers to the final portion of the sentence, or statement.

"Eluded him" means it got away from him. He lost control of it. The thread of his statement somehow broke.
For the listener, and others, the seeds of destruction were sown at the start. The listener knew right away that Perry would not be able to salvage it, or to turn it around - to make it say what he originally intended. Rick shot himself in the foot, as we say.

Tail-end

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