8/8/2015

Boilingtheocean?Newwordsintheworkplace.|AboutWordsCambridgeDictionariesOnlineblog

CommentingondevelopmentsintheEnglishlanguage

Boilingtheocean?Newwordsintheworkplace.February18,
2014
byLizWalter

Many people will have whiled away a boring meeting playing

boardroombingo,whereparticipantscompetetospothackneyed
phrasessuchasthinkoutsidethebox,reinventthewheelorgobackto
the drawing board. We are alltoo familiar with these clichs, but
whichphrasesarecurrentlycompetingforaplaceinthegame?
Onecontendermustbetoboiltheoceanusedtowarncolleagues
away from attempting something vastly overambitious. The
followingistypical:
OursuggestiontoAvoidBoilingtheOceanistoconcentrateoncreating
plansthatfocusonCriticalConstituencieswiththefollowingPrinciples.

This quote comes from someone who is, apparently an expert in

the development of organizational transformation strategies
which probably tells you all you need to know about the kind of
personwhousesanidiomlikethis.
In another colourful phrase, when a trader says it is time to back up the truck, they mean that
theyarereadytomakealargepurchase.AsanarticleontheiStockAnalystwebsiterecentlysaid:
Inanutshell,anythingunder$1,600isareasontobeenthusiasticaboutfurtherpurchases,and$1,550is
anopportunitytobackupthetruck.
Therearemanysuggestionsfortheoriginofthepopularbusinessphraseopenkimono.Somesay
it harks back to samurai warriors, either taking off their kimonos in order to relax or opening
them to prove that they have no hidden weapons. Others suggest that it relates to the idea of a
Japanesewomanshylyundressing.
Wherever it comes from, the phrase is used now to mean the free sharing of information, for
example with consumers or representatives of other companies, and it can be used either as an
adjectivephrase(anopenkimonostrategy),orasaverbphrase(Itstimetoopenthekimono.)
The average businessperson has to sit through so many presentations, it was inevitable that a
phrasewouldemergefromtheexperience,andofftheslidedeckisit.Wehear,forexample,of
companiesbeingfundedofftheslidedeck,meaningthattheyaregettingmoneyforsomethingthat
isatpresentlittlemorethanatheoreticalidearatherthanafinishedproduct.Insomesituations,
the phrase has distinctly pejorative connotations. When the author of an article about training
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Boilingtheocean?Newwordsintheworkplace.|AboutWordsCambridgeDictionariesOnlineblog

asks:Was the instructor able to get off the slide deck and actually help you with a problem that needed
solving?, he is clearly using it to express a situation in which someone may be impractical and
outoftouchwiththerealityofworkinglife.
Regardless of the number of clichs used, anyone who rambles on for too long in a business
meeting is likely to be accused of buffling, a lovely combination of the words business and
waffling, and not to be confused with blurting, which is, apparently, a new brainstorming
technique in which participants are encouraged to share any thoughts, no matter how tenuous
andillconceivedtheymaybe.
Inanicetwist,businessjargonisnowsovilifiedthatthereisanewtermtousewhenonecomes
acrossit:Djmoo.Byanalogywithdjvuitisusedtomeanthatweveheardthisbullbefore.
PostedintheEnglishlanguage|

Onecomment
Iconceivethiswebsitehasgotsomerattlingsuperbinfofor everyone. Dealing with network
executivesislikebeingnibbledtodeathbyducks.byEricSevareid.ddkacdgacaeaddbb
bySmitha4September26,2014at7:27am
Reply

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