Matt Taibbi: Vampire Squid Metaphor 'Clearly Getting a Little Old'

In 2009, Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi applied the most apt metaphor for Goldman Sachs that anyone has yet come up with, calling the bank "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." The phrase took off and even two years later was the inspiration for Occupy Wall Street's "squidding" protests yesterday, which resulted in 17 arrests.

DealBook reached Taibbi by phone today, and even he is sick of the squid metaphor.

In a phone interview on Tuesday, Mr. Taibbi - who has since written for Rolling Stone about Rick Perry and foreclosure courts, among other things - said that while he was flattered that the Occupy movement had adopted his article as a rallying cry, he worried that he would never write another papier-mâché-worthy phrase.

"I'm getting a little worried that I'm going to have a squid on my gravestone," Mr. Taibbi said of the metaphor's extended shelf life. "It's clearly getting a little old, but it seems to not go away."

On the other hand, in Rolling Stone today Taibbi wrote that he "almost shed tears of pride" when reading about the squidding protests.

[rgray@villagevoice.com] [@_rosiegray]

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