(a remarkable bit of) one-upmanship, on the back of, State of the Union address

THE SHUTDOWN

Trump Blocks Pelosi Trip as Ill Will Over Shutdown Consumes Washington

President Trump’s decision to ground Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plane was a remarkable bit of one-upmanship after she threatened to cancel his State of the Union address.

The 21st century’s space race is between Jeff Bezos, the boss of Amazon, and Elon Musk, the boss of SpaceX and Tesla. In their one-upmanship, the duelling entrepreneurs are bringing down the cost of access to space.

From 1843 Magazine

Representation of the People Act 1867

Its catchier name is the Second Reform Act. The groundwork was achieved 35 years earlier when the Reform Act 1832 cleaned up various unwholesome aspects of the electoral system by eliminating some of the whiffiest of the rotten boroughs and enlarging the electorate by 60%. However, that still left most of the population unable to vote, so the successor act enfranchised a swath of the working classes. At first only "respectable" workers were to be privileged, but political oneupmanship led to the Conservatives venturing more drastic reforms that made most urban householders eligible (provided they were male, naturally).



Bernanke Sees Early Stages of Healing in U.S. Economy

Bernanke said growth is likely to resume later this year on the back of firmer household spending, a bottoming housing market and an end to inventory liquidation. (Remarks)

Microsoft One-Ups Apple's IPod Engraving
The Associated Press - SEATTLE (AP) — In a bid to one-up Apple, Microsoft said it will engravedesigns by contemporary artists on the back of its Zune media players free of charge ...

one-upmanship       1952
noun [U] DISAPPROVING
when someone does or says something in order to prove that they are better than someone else

one-upmanship

NOUN

[MASS NOUN] informal

The technique or practice of gaining an advantage or feeling of superiority over another person:the one-upmanship of who can get the best presents

More example sentences

• It is pathetic though to see the TN government indulge in one-upmanship with political rivals over the elimination of Veerappan.
• It would have been a simple matter to pilfer their tawdry Christmas illuminations in order to gain one-upmanship this year.
• Each time a council meeting is cancelled or postponed because of political manoeuvring and one-upmanship, the real business of the municipality suffers.

on the back of an envelope
in a hurried way, without much detail:
The prices were very roughly calculated - it looked as though he'd done them on the back of an envelope.

back (SUPPORT) Show phonetics
verb [T]
to give support to someone or something with money or words:
The management has refused to back our proposals.
The horse I backed (= risked money on so that I could win more money if it won a race) came in last.
Will you back me up (= say that I am telling the truth) if I say that I never saw him?

backing Show phonetics
noun [U]
1 support, especially money, that someone gives a person or plan:
If I go ahead with the plan, can I count on your backing?

2 music or singing which is played or performed to support a song or tune, especially a popular one:
a backing track
She sang as part of an all-women backing (US USUALLY backup) group.

backer Show phonetics
noun [C]
someone who gives financial support to something:
We need financial backers for the project.

-backed Show phonetics
suffix
government-backed contracts
US-backed intervention