The day after Human Beings invented talking, they invented the trite business phrase. In those days, business consisted mostly of acquiring food, shelter, and the necessities for procreation, much like business today. The first trite business phrase, loosely translated, meant "gimme that." Despite its rapid descent into triteness, "gimme that" did serve a higher purpose, because it led to the invention of a phrase of great utility even today: "in your dreams."
Since then, the more inventive among us have tried to stay ahead of the triteness curve — so to speak — but now cable TV makes that impossible. As soon as an authoritative author or a pontificating pundit unveils a clever new verbal invention, it's blasted around the world on the 24-hour news cycle, and everyone scrambles to be the first to use it in email or a meeting.
Clever new verbal inventions
have short shelf lives.
Everyone scrambles to be
the first to use them
in email or a meeting.The rest of us must repeat the same old too-familiar phrases, often forgetting what the phrases once meant. They might have had real impact when they were new, but now they're just filler.
Here are a few examples of once clever and colorful, but now trite and tired business phrases. Recall the first time you caught yourself using them, and decide if you want to continue.
- that said, having said that
- We used to say "but." Nowadays we seem to need more syllables.
- with all due respect
- Probably popularized in modern times by Perry Mason or those characters on C-SPAN, this one is a real oldie. See, for example, The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce [1911] (Order from Amazon.com).
- at the end of the day, bottom line
- Two different ways of saying "finally." "Bottom line" comes from accounting and finance, and used to be cute.
- on the ground
- Desperately trying to remain vital, this one is transforming itself into "boots on the ground." It's probably military in origin — a flyer's or paratrooper's term.
- ahead of the curve, behind the curve
- The "power curve" describes the relationship between drag, airspeed, and vertical speed for an aircraft. In business, the "ahead" form means advanced or innovative, while the behind form means "in too deep to ever dig out." Originally, using this image meant you were a pilot, which carried status. No longer.
- on our radar screen
- This one means "in our awareness." It used to be clever-sounding.
- get your arms around
- This one means "master," "grasp" or "understand." It's a highly charged physical image that can be somewhat risky.
The language we use reveals much about us. If leadership in writing and speech is a part of being a leader, then it's important to choose consciously the language we use every day. Choose yours. Next in this series Top
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Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info
For more examples of high falutin? goofy talk, see "High Falutin' Goofy Talk: II," Point Lookout for January 17, 2018.
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Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Appreciate Differences
- In group problem solving, diversity of opinion and healthy, reasoned debate ensure that our conclusions
take into account all the difficulties we can anticipate. Lock-step thinking — and limited debate
— expose us to the risk of unanticipated risk.
Some Costs of COTS
- As a way of managing risk, we sometimes steer our organizations towards commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
components, methodologies, designs, and processes. But to gain a competitive edge, we need creative
differentiation.
The Good, the Bad, and the Complicated
- In fiction and movies, the world is often simple. There's a protagonist, a goal, and a series of obstacles.
The protagonists and goals are good, and the obstacles are bad. Real life is more complicated.
One Cost of Split Assignments
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but that leads to split assignments for those with rare skills. Here's one way split assignments can
lead to higher costs.
Deciding to Change: Choosing
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they make decisions, too. That part of the change is sometimes overlooked, in part, because it affects
most the people who make decisions. What can we do about this?
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Effective Communication at Work for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming February 1: The Big Power of Little Words
- Big, fancy words, like commensurate or obfuscation, tend to be more noticed than the little everyday words, like yet or best. That might be why the little words can be so much more powerful, steering conversations where their users want them to go. Available here and by RSS on February 1.
And on February 8: Kerfuffles That Seem Like Something More
- Much of what we regard as political conflict is a series of squabbles commonly called kerfuffles. They captivate us while they're underway, but after a month or two they're forgotten. Why do they happen? Why do they persist? Available here and by RSS on February 8.
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