Since I met jheem on September 12th, I have been in Georgia, Virginia, New York and Florida for meetings. [I am tired!] One thing I have noticed is that "drill down" or "drill deep down" is a phrase that has been used a lot at all of these meetings, meaning to look even deeper at what the data is showing. Frankly, I hate it. It reminds me of oil drills...or even worse, dentist drills. Are you hearing this phrase a lot? There must be a better word or phrase.

I have heard it most often when applied to computers. Quite how it differs from "analyse" or from an "in-depth analysis" I can't really see.

Agreed. It's another one of those "management-speak" buzzwords that appear from time to time.

By the way, Michael Quinion has amusing article on "brainstorming", a similar buzzword that apparently is being attacked by the PC brigade for fear it might offend those with mental illness.

In his newsletter he mentions a follow-up from a correspondent:

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...told us we were no longer able to call it brainstorming. The approved term was ‘thought-shower’. How feeble can you get?”

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By the way, Michael Quinion has amusing article on "http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-bra3.htm", a similar buzzword that apparently is being attacked by the PC brigade for fear it might offend those with mental illness.

In his newsletter he mentions a follow-up from a correspondent:

quote:

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...told us we were no longer able to call it brainstorming. The approved term was ‘thought-shower’. How feeble can you get?”

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I've known (and, indeed, worked with some) who have not even a brief shower, but more like a light misting or sprinkle from time to time. Then there are others (I'd class most on this site here) that tend to have huge brain squalls deserving of their own names, much like the tropical storms assailing Florida this season.

I heard it used in a computational context meaning to click on a node in a hierarchically arranged tree widget to expand it (as in the File Explorer on Windows OS). It was only later that I heard it in an extended meaning by management to mean something like 'analyze'. For me it's still a technical term like double-click or drag-and-drop.

Funny, I have never heard of "drill down" as related to computers. I have only heard academics use it when referring to look deeper at the data.

By the way, Michael Quinion has amusing article on "brainstorming", a similar buzzword

Arnie, what a wonderful link. I will always remember the roots of brainstorm when I go to brainstorming sessions!

There was a lot of discussion on brainstorming on one of the HRD boards and I was very interested since it's a technique I use. The PC brigade (interesting how we use that nomenclature to exress our disapproval of their more stupid views) claim that it is insulting to those who have "brainstorms" as a medical condition.

In the end we had several postings from people who suffered from brain conditions such as epilepsy, all of whom said they couldn't give a monkey's about people calling the technique brainstorms, so I still call them that.

And I still call blackboards, blackboards (not chalkboards - which the PC types suggest they be called so as not to upset the black community!)

Unfortunately political correctness is now so endemic in many educational establishments that it's sometimes easier to go along with it and talk about "an original" rather than a "master" when seeking to get something copied - for fear that you won't otherwise get the job done!

political correctness and it's effect on the language of our society would be a very interesting thread of its own

I also wonder what (if any) differences there are in PC-ness between UK and the states

said they couldn't give a monkey's

I don't know about "PC-ness," but we wouldn't say "monkey's ass" (I assume that is what is meant) in the U.S., would we? How did that come about?

After "monkey's" you can insert pretty well any body part or bodily function you want, so long it is one not normally mentioned in polite society. However, most people here just say "couldn't give a monkey's". Why the simian reference? No idea.

Confusingly, it can also be Cockney rhyming slang: monkeys' tails = nails.

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
... we wouldn't say "monkey's ass" (I assume that is what is meant) in the U.S., would we? How did that come about?

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No, we would say, "I don't give a rat's ass." This
site says a rat was chosen for the expression because it is considered "annoying and small." I don't buy this. I think it's another way of saying, "I think what you're saying is worthless; in other words, "not worth a rat's ass." I think rat was chosen partly because it was worthless and partly because of the repetition of the a and s sounds (assonance? consonance?).

Some would just say, "I don't give a rat's ...," and leave the "ass" off. I guess that's because "ass" is too nasty a word for them to say. The use of "monkey's" in British slang is interesting. I wonder why they (whoever "they" is) chose that word. If anybody has any idea, I'd like to know.

Tinman

tinman says, "[In] 'I don't give a rat's ass', I think rat was chosen partly because of the repetition of the a and s sounds.

Do I understand that apart from the idiom, you Brits say arse rather than our ass?. And that in this idiom, you are speaking of the same body part but typically employ an animal other than the rat?

If so, that would strongly support tinman's reading.

Wordnerd,

Yes to the first question. See my post of 3 October for the second.

We do sometimes use 'I don't give a rat's arse' over here, but I don't know if that's someone simply copying the American expression from TV or whatever or if it is older than that over here.

Only in the New York Times : They have a column called, "Drilling Down/Arts Coverage" where in today's paper they talked about the shrinking number of articles in newspapers about the arts.

While I can see "drilling down" being used more widely than with computers, somehow using it with the "arts" just doesn't do it for me!