drop the ball
先程と同じニュースの記事の中から表現を拾います。
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev 'conscious and responding' as questions asked over whether FBI 'dropped the ball'
As police wait to talk to his brother a debate rages over what FBI knew
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said either the FBI had failed or US laws weren't strict enough. "The ball was dropped in one of two ways," he told CNN. "The FBI missed a lot of things, is one potential answer, or our laws do not allow the FBI to follow up in a sound solid way."
drop the ballを取り上げます。残念ながらこの表現は手持ちの辞書に記載されていなかったのですが、CDOで調べてみると ‘to make a mistake, especially by doing something in a stupid or careless way’と定義されていました。さらに、(英辞郎on the WEB)でもチェックしてみると「へまをやる◆【語源】ボールを落とすと失点したりゲームが中断されるスポーツのイメージから。」とありました。(Shou-VR*)
