The internet is full of vapid words and catch-less phrases, but one that I’ve long been particularly peeved about is the word “play”. As in this company is an “infrastructure play” or a “CPM play”. Blogger, please.
Using “play” feels like it’s just pointing to how unsubstantial something is. Like that this is their third play. And oh hell, if that doesn’t work, we’ll just get more of other people’s money and try to play again. Or that it’s a play as in pulling the lever on a slot machine and if you’re lucky gold will flow.
Do, or do not. There is no try.
Daniel
on 02 Jul 08Agreed; it seems a little too cavalier to call it “a play” when discussing serious matters.
But at the same time, I’m wondering about the specific usage. I’m guessing, and hopefully some American readers will tell me if I’m right or wrong, that it’s mostly used in the sense of “making a play” as in American football. Again, I’m guessing, since I’m Danish, and to me football is soccer, and in soccer you don’t make “plays”.
But American football, being so thoroughly strategic and tactical (and being taken oh so seriously), does provide a good allegory for business. And in that vein, “making a (strategic) play” makes OK sense to me.
Daniel
on 02 Jul 08P.S. Lovin’ the “blogger, please.”
Jeremy Ricketts
on 02 Jul 08wait wait wait….
“Blogger, please.”
This is the first time I’ve seen that phrase and I about laughed my ass off.
Until further notice, I hereby declare it the best phrase of 2008.DHH
on 02 Jul 08I can’t take credit for “blogger, please”, though. Heard it on Bill Maher’s show :)
Steve Brewer
on 02 Jul 08Yeah, it comes from sports – particularly football. In that context, it is a good metaphor.
Sam
on 02 Jul 08hehehehehehe….blogger, please!
alex
on 02 Jul 08“After the jump” in reference to a link in a blog post is annoying too.
And describing a company as a “shop”.
True Playa
on 02 Jul 08not to state the obvious, but if a blogger calls a product or company ‘a play’, then i suspect that blogger is intentionally using that phrase either: a) because the blogger is a loser, or b) because the product or idea is yet another rehash of a lame idea.
Ric
on 02 Jul 08=> false
Chad
on 02 Jul 08Heres a shirt with [“do”, “do not”].include? “try”.
Eric
on 02 Jul 08@Chad, cool shirt :D
Matt Certo
on 02 Jul 08I couldn’t agree more. The other one that bugs me is people’s constant use of the word “space” to describe a market or market segment (i.e. “we want to be a leader in the space”).
Nick Caldwell
on 02 Jul 08I think the TV series Deadwood taught me to be suspicious of people talking about ‘making plays’, because the result usually involved someone being fed to Mr Wu’s pigs.
Actually, I think Deadwood has quite a lot to teach us about the dotCom2.0 world!
Jason Powell
on 02 Jul 08I love that you brought this up. The word “play” as used to describe a business endeavor has severely annoyed me for years.
The CEO of our company still uses it on an almost daily basis in that way. He’ll say “If they want to play with the big boys…” or “this is a big play for us.” Our company tag line was literally “pure play” at one point. I thought that was the most ridiculous tag line I’d ever seen. I think at one point I told him that he could play with the word play in his daily play, but we wouldn’t play with our brand image by using the word play as any part of our identity.
The work we do for our clients is far from some kind of game.
Ben
on 02 Jul 08Really, it’s a stylistic choice. Sure, I agree that it’s often used in a manner that shows disregard for the seriousness of an endeavor, but it goes much deeper than that.
Quite literally much of business is applied game theory (which is, itself, applied mathematics). It’s an understanding and prediction of strategy and reactions by multiple parties. It’s not pull a f—-ing lever and see what comes out… it’s betting high when the count is favorable at the blackjack tables.
We are all mere mortals (well, maybe not DHH.. of course, I jest ;-)), and reducing these situations to ‘play by play’ approaches makes it easier to not only dissect, understand, and predict… but also to act as you suggest.
If you’re really interested in learning more, I highly recommend von Neumann and Morgenstern’s 1944 treatise.
“We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants.” Your knee-jerk reaction sacrifices so much of the understanding that has been build up by men smarter than the lot of us to help move us forward. (And to head off a potential retort, thinking deeper about strategy does not mean one cannot get real.... it just means they can get real intelligently.)
john herr
on 02 Jul 08meh.
the words “art”, “work” and “play” have etymological meanings that can be interpreted as being very similar.
and a child learns by playing.
you may not like sports, but please realize that words are not tied to their meanings today, but rather have meanings and hidden associations that still resonate.
play has very little to do with “winners and losers”, it has a lot to do with creative experience.
you seem to live in this binary world, but in the real world their are shades of meaning. however if you examine your binary world you’ll see the bit-rot of history, and the gradients it creates. you’d probably love etymology, and it might broaden your horizons.
finally, what is wrong with making a play, seeing if it works, and then dusting yourself off and trying again?
PS—you get some handicapped points for being a non-native English speaker (i’m assuming).
Dan Volkens
on 02 Jul 08+1,000,000 points for the Yoda reference. I actually try to live by that. lol
RJ
on 02 Jul 08Man. I was really hoping you’d be linking me to a boiled down, simple, elegant, fun internet game.
J Simmons
on 02 Jul 08I’m tired of people “Shooting” or “Firing Off” emails.
someone
on 02 Jul 08there are many empty phrases that should never be used.
if you watch television, you will quickly learn that people love to use the expression “throw under the bus”.
Chris Morris
on 03 Jul 08Good article, but minus a million for the yoda bit, “There is no try” – pffft – I’ve always hated that line. This is the shirt you need. Good thing Edison didn’t have a green puppet nagging him.
RF
on 03 Jul 08Slangin’ it hard.
Michael Covisi
on 05 Jul 08Rather than the word “play” indicating an unsubstantial nature, I really think it is more the sports analogy. In American schools at least, young people are herded into athletic programs that teach them to be “team players” rather than individual thinkers. That mindset stays with them later in life.
But you are right, David, there are far too many terms of business jargon thrown around – for no reason other than to throw them around. Do people use them to regain that lost sense of individuality? Or to feel like they are once again a member of the team?
This discussion is closed.