Killer Phrases

KillerPhrases are a tool used by many people (not necessarily managers) to squash creativeness and ideas they do not like or understand:

• "This cannot possibly work."
• "We did it that way for years now."
• "That costs too much."
• "That's a dead idea".
• WhatsYourAgenda

The problem with KillerPhrases is that often you cannot prove that the person using them is wrong. Possible weapons are AntiKillerPhrases or being prepared. Part of preparation is to know them and thus being able to spot them.

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There are some good ones in politics and media.

• "Think about the children!"
• "...lifestyle..."
• "...traditional..."
• "... further study ..."
• "... war on terror ..." (which is just as good as "... war on drugs ..." or the most unsuccessful of all Government projects: "... war on poverty ...")
• "...society {needs,wants,should,owes,is owed}..." *

(These also tend to be used as a RootPasswordToTheConstitution?.)

(*The word "society" is particularly interesting. Its use is usually ambiguous to the point of being intentionally misleading. It is the most trendy and enduring RootPasswordToTheConstitution?. It can mean "you", "government", "someone else's family", "your family", "someone else's community", or "your community" -- whatever the listener hopes to hear. Used as grounds for an official body to financially quantify an inherently subjective human requirement to justify government funding of a solution to a problem that can be stated as affecting "society". Interesting way of personifying something that cannot have a hope, dream, desire, aim, fear, goal or any particular condition for lack of a firm definition.)

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The AntiAcademicWorld? ...

• "It's fine InTheory but in the RealWorld...", usually muttered by an ignorant superior in response to a more knowledgeable subordinate's suggestion
• "Researchers have an easy life, the real world is much harder", a particular gripe of mine - having moved from academic research to the so-called 'realworld' all I've seen is incompetence compounded by stupidity.
• * I believe that this comes from the perception that academic work rarely has to actually be practical - it is enough to prove something possible, like prime factorization of a given number. The SokalHoax is a good example of how this is true in at least some research circles

A free killerphrase poster:

• http://www.whatagreatidea.com/poster.htm

Google others:

• http://www.google.com/search?q=killer+phrase+poster

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More interesting is the notion that one cannot prove such phrases as invalid without successfully implementing the notion, idea or process which is the target of the death merchant. So why give any credence or attention to such utterances. As a 40's song went: "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don't mess with MrInbetween?." It is far easier to oppose those who act on their convictions than it is to have and implement convictions of one's own. -- DonaldNoyes 20060412_1720

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Contrast with LeadByExample, ActInsteadOfComplain, ItWorks

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CategoryCommunication CategoryPsychology