High Falutin' Goofy Talk: II

Many of us are engaged in an unending search for fresh, impactful ways to convey simple ideas. We use phrases, metaphors, and images that we believe few have heard or seen. For maximum impact, we must be the first, or among the first, to use them. But with use, their impact declines, until the phrases become trite. At that point, using them marks the users not as dynamic leaders, but as followers, unaware that the usage is now passé.

Here's Part II of a list of phrases that are no longer fresh. See "High Falutin' Goofy Talk," Point Lookout for November 13, 2002, for Part I.

at the bleeding edge

This is a pun on "leading edge." The leading edge of a field of knowledge is where we would find the latest or most up-to-date set of practices, tools, procedures, and so on. The bleeding edge is ahead of that, and consequently, riskier and perhaps less reliable. The term leading edge is probably a reference to the forward edge of an aircraft wing.

Like most Many common business phrases
seem clever enough to repeat,
but some have been repeated so
often that they aren't worth repeatingmetaphors, this one was powerful once, and even funny at the level of a chuckle. It's now so overused that the funny has worn off.

it is what it is

The meaning of this one is about equivalent to c'est la vie — that's Life, or that's the way it goes — older expressions that have served us well.

Using this more recent form of c'est la vie was advantageous to the user when the new form was fresh. It drew positive attention, and emphasized the user's point. It's no longer fresh. C'est la vie.

to move the needle

This phrase is a metaphor for making a small change, one that just barely registers. The needle in question here is the needle of a meter on the display panel of a measurement instrument, such as a voltmeter, fuel gauge, or VU meter. To "move the needle" is to induce a change in the quantity being measured significant enough to cause the meter's needle to move. One speaks of moving the needle only when the changes are relatively small.

Use of this phrase is increasing, but nevertheless, it's overused. Why not just describe the change as "small but noticeable" or "small but profound?"

game-changer

A game-changer is a new technology, strategy, proposal, team member — new something that alters how a situation will evolve. The term became popular in business in the 1990s, but it was first used in sports in 1982. [Safire 2008]

The term game-changer is no longer fresh — no longer, um, a game-changer in meetings. Try transformative — it's more erudite.

take it off line

This phrase is a suggestion, request, or command to two or more people, usually in a meeting, to please continue their exchange at another time, not in the meeting. It was clever once, when most meetings were face-to-face. The users of the phrase were then able to convey the idea that most of their meetings, unlike the current one, were mediated electronically in one form or another. At the time, it indicated the user's elevated status or importance. Today, though, virtual meetings are common. To "take it off line" is now very often literally correct, and using it conveys no impression of elevated status.

An alternative is asking, simply, "Can you suspend for now and continue after the meeting?"

Space doesn't permit a complete list of all phrases comprising high falutin' goofy talk. Watch for a future installment. First in this series   Top    Next Issue

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

Reader Comments

Roland Cole, Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute for Policy Research

The most important point about "high-falutin goofy talk" is that its elements/phrases go in and out of style. To use one of its phrases early is OK; at the height of popularity or shortly afterwards is not. What that suggests is that one might be able to recycle phrases (perhaps found in great literature) to fresh effect for a while. "Brush up your Shakespeare," indeed! <grin>

This column, like the monument it is named after, intrigues my imagination (i.e., makes me think). For me, that is the highest recommendation I can give short articles like these.

Footnotes

Your comments are welcome

Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrenZLkFdSHmlHvCaSsuner@ChacbnsTPttsdDaRAswloCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Ten Reasons Why You Don't Always Get What You Measure: I

One of the "truisms" floating around is that "You get what you measure." Belief in this assertion has led many to a metrics-based style of management, but the results have been uneven at best. Why?

How to Procrastinate

You probably know many techniques for procrastinating, and use them regularly, but vociferously deny doing so. That's what makes this such a delicate subject that I've been delaying writing this article. Well, those days are over.

The Paradox of Confidence

Most of us interpret a confident manner as evidence of competence, and a hesitant manner as evidence of lesser ability. Recent research suggests that confidence and competence are inversely correlated. If so, our assessments of credibility and competence are thrown into question.

How to Foresee the Foreseeable: Focus on the Question

When group decisions go awry, we sometimes feel that the failure could have been foreseen. Often, the cause of the failure was foreseen, but because the seer was a dissenter within the group, the issue was set aside. Improving how groups deal with dissent can enhance decision quality.

The Power and Hazards of Anecdotes: I

Anecdotes are short stories — sometimes just a single sentence. They're powerful tools of persuasion, but they can also be dangerous, to both anecdote tellers and anecdote listeners.

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.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenZLkFdSHmlHvCaSsuner@ChacbnsTPttsdDaRAswloCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info