Old Dogs, New Tricks

I had a friend who spent some time writing speeches for a politician who was running for Congress, attempting to unseat an incumbent. Once, at a state fair, my friend listened while the man gave a stump speech that had been written by another of his writers. "If things continue the way they have under my opponent," the politician intoned, "the situation in this state will be...." And here the man paused for a moment, looking slightly bewildered, before thundering dramatically what sounded to my friend like "achin' de chows." My friend went to the candidate afterward and inquired what it was he'd said. "Damned if I know," the man replied, "I just read what was written." My friend asked to look at the text and found the phrase in question. It was, "akin to chaos."