hole picking?

hi,

I have 2 qq:
1. what does hole picking mean?
"But with the ink barely dry, the hole picking will begin."

2. what does this senctence mean?
"Gone is the time when a report by a distinguished establishment figure could be published and universally accepted."

If you pick holes, you find fault with something, so people will start criticising almost immediately (= before the ink is dry). In the past people accepted such reports, but now they criticise them. ;-)

so it's like digging a hole... thanks tdol :-)

No; digging a hole is getting yourself into trouble, but picking a hole is criticising others. ;-)

oops! I thought when you dig a hole, the truth comes out.. I was wrong again:oops:

'nit picking' means looking for faults in a trivial manner. I suppose 'hole picking' (although I am unfamiliar with this saying) means something similar. If you pick holes in an argument then you are in a sense debating and challenging someones opinion and the more holes you pick the less strength the argument or opinion has.

thank you for the explanation. The original sentence was taken from bbc homepage about the report on Diana's death.. so I guess it must be common at least in british english. my final understanding is this: as soon as the report is announced, the critisims about it will start (by the ones who don't believe it).

That's right. In fact, they have started- Mr Al Fayad has already dismissed it as rubbish, and those that believe she was killed are unlikely to change their minds. ;-)