“At the end of the day” is a group-think phrase

[Cyrano]

Having spent much time in a Dilbert environment, I have a good ear for corporate-speak which is no different from political-speak. A phrase comes into vogue and everyone starts using it. Examples are: “As it were,” “If you will,” and “So to speak.” And when someone says, “Frankly,” or “Quite honestly,” whatever follows is probably a lie. The greatest master of this junk language was and is Newt Gingrich.

You’ve probably heard “at the end of the day” used by pundits thousands of times over the past few years. It’s interesting that those who don’t use it are people we regard most highly. I don’t recall it ever being used by people like Paul Krugman, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Keith Olbermann, Bill Moyers, Jon Stewart, and a handful of others.

Words are supposed to have meaning, but they can’t replace original, independent thought.

[Mojorabbit]

1. Well my

pop used it for most of my lifetime and I am over 50....

[villager]

2. as is "out of the box"

which is becoming one of the more "in the box" turns of phrase, with overuse...

[Cyrano]

3. Yep. It's possible that those who tell you to

"think outside the box" haven't done so in years.

[villager]

5. ah, thanks for the emendation. Yes, out*side* the box, is indeed the phrase....

;-)

[Jim__]

15. Absolutely!

I don't think I've been to a business meeting for years where phrase isn't used at least once.

[Dogmudgeon]

4. This is a great place to see them in action

Especially the community-college variety. This week, "fail" (as an exclamation) made an auspicious debut. " ______ much" has also been used into submission.

Olbermann is pretty good, but he does use several stock locutions, including "throw ___ under the bus".

Vanden Heuvel also uses a couple of rad-left repetitious phrases, but I haven't read much of her stuff lately, so I'm not up to date.

--p!

[Cyrano]

6. Frankly, those who use "throw ____ under the bus," as it were,

quite honestly fall into the "fail ____ much?" group if you will.

[Clear Blue Sky]

7. Phrases like this come and go. Like fashion trends.

"Can you get you head around that?"

[Cyrano]

8. I'm still trying to get my head around "economies of scale" which

I constantly hear from economists.

[Occulus]

9. At the end of the day you're another day older

And that's all you can say for the life of the poor
It's a struggle, it's a war, and there's nothing that anyone's giving
One more day standing about- what is it for?
One day less to be living...

At the end of the day you're another day colder
And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill
And the righteous hurry past- they don't hear the little ones crying
And the winter is coming on fast, ready to kill.
One day nearer to dying...

At the end of the day there's another day dawning
And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise
Like the waves crash on the sand
Like a storm that'll break any second
There's a hunger in the land
There's a reckoning still to be reckoned and
There's gonna be hell to pay
At the end of the day!

:D

[bobbolink]

10. Love that Les Miz!!! Thanks for posting those lyrics......

Great way to start a day....

:hi:

[spinbaby]

11. My boss is on a "positive thinking" kick

Never mind we're working on a project that makes no sense, WE'VE GOT UPLIFTING SLOGANS! They raise my blood pressure every time I see them.

[Cyrano]

12. You're trapped in Dilbertville. But look at the positive side.

"At the end of the day," you get to go home.

[mitchum]

13. Does he want you to "work smarter, not harder"?

[bobbolink]

24. hey, you could be forced to perform the WalMart "cheer"

:puke:

[SOS]

14. Cable news heads

now add the expression "if you will" at the end of each sentence.
"No, Wolf Blitzer, I won't"!

[Turbineguy]

16. In the fullness of time

at the appropriate juncture

Also faves of Humphrey Appleby of "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" fame.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8keZbZL2ero&feature=related

[poebango]

17. That's the way the cookie crumbles

If at the end of the day you're not all singing from the same hymn book, you won't have all your ducks in a row and then you will end up creating a paradigm, if you will, that is not a win-win situation for all concerned.:crazy:

[Dogmudgeon]

18. I can see we're on the same page, paradigm-wise

I think that speaks to a certain jouissance which informs the narrative.

Let us honor it. Deeply.

--p!

[poebango]

20. LOL! (which is also a group-think thang)

:hi:

[Cyrano]

21. LM(group-think)AO

[poebango]

26. Tee hee

Thanks Cyrano :hi:

[datasuspect]

19. "it is what it is"

[anigbrowl]

22. It's not corporate-speak - it's just recycled bits of the English language in business books

Corporate thinkers (and pundits in general) aren't that big on creativity so any business book written with panache that does well just gets quoted to death, same way movies do. Cliche phrases are annoying to the literate, but one has to bear in mind that most people don't read that much for pleasure. My pet hate is profusion of sports metaphors in business; since I've never been very into sport, the whole 'competitive spirit' nonsense leaves me cold. But to my mind, if you don't like the hand you've been dealt you have to bite the bullet and make a decision about whether to double down or fold before people call your bluff.

I notice it on a small scale when reading the Economist - you can kind of guess when someone has said something particularly witty or amusing because you'll see the same phrase repeated in several entirely unrelated stories in a single week, and then it's gone a week or two later, presumably after the editor notices it's been percolating and reminds them to take another look at the style guide (which is the best guide to concise English writing besides Strunk).

Don't take it too hard. I used to get really irritated by this sort of thing, before realizing that it's more verbal punctuation than anything else, a device which gives people a few moments to think. Nobody wants to be seen saying 'hmmm...errr...aaahhhh...' on TV because it doesn't look all that good, so they just use these phrases instead for more or less the same purpose. The flip side is that if you eliminate all these phrases from your writing or speech, people will often criticise you for being arrogant because your speech sounds to start dictatorial.

The best defense against someone who speaks in cliches all the time is to have a few of your own standing by with which to take hold of the conversational steering wheel. You can always say 'that's really interesting - I hadn't looked at it that way before. So, let's get down to brass tacks - what does this mean for me?' or 'Great - now I feel we're really on the same page. So, let's cut to the chase: what is it you want from me?'. More often than not, cliches are actually an efort by the speaker to build common ground rather than befuddle the listener; their excessive is a sign of mild insecurity or inarticulation, and you can both benefit and cooperate by engaging the cliche-monger, rather than rejecting them.

I don't know why this is in GD-P, but it was entertaining.

[Uncle Joe]

23. I disagree, when I use the term "quite honestly" it simply means

I'm aware that what I'm about to say may be controversial or pushing the envelope but I want to stress my sincerity to the listener in that I sincerely believe what I'm saying and am in no way joking or being sarcastic.

I also disagree with the post up thread that disparaged the term "thinking out side the box". I believe boxes are for real.

Bill Moyers is my favorite journalist/interviewer and I like Kathleen Hall Jameison; she seems to specialize in communication but she said something that troubled me last night on Moyers's program. I thought of it as a box. She said conservatives go to FOX News and liberals go to MSNBC, she probably didn't mean much by it, other than viewer preference but I don't consider MSNBC to be liberal. To me they're as corporate as the rest and if people believe in that conservative liberal restraint tied to commercial networks, that's a box.

[Igel]

25. Eh.

It's a cliche. Every register and style has them.

Railing against cliches is a fun pastime, but won't get you very far unless you're teaching freshman comp.

[Ghost in the Machine]

27. Well quite honestly, when it's all said & done with and the chips have fallen where they may..

you have no choice but to keep on keeping on, with shoulder to the wheel and your nose to the grindstone. You can never give up, because hope keeps you alive and at the end of the day, all you have in this life *is* your life.

P.S. - Don't forget to live every day like it's your last. Don't Worry, Be Happy!


:evilgrin:

[cloudbase]

28. I avoid cliches

like the plague.