Right, that's it .....we've had enough! New rule...... no "going forward", going forward!
For the last few months (and it seems like years) we've listened to scores of people, both within and without our organisation, ending sentences with "going forward". We thought it would have died a death by now but this awful phrase is now becoming the 'must use' term again and appears in all manner of conversations, presentations, discussions, reports and so on - even when its use doesn't make sense. We've noticed that the phrase usually adds little to a sentence: it could be removed and no one would notice. We're now on a mission to rid the world of the phrase "going forward", going forward. We'll run this counter for a year as see what progress we make.
We are keeping official records using out
patented Going-forward-ometer©.
We've compiled data on the number of times the phrase has been used in our
presence since April of this year, and we'll update the counters monthly. We
might also add a few examples of how or where the phrase was used - if we can
stay away jumping out the window in the meantime! If you keep a "going forward"
tally during any of your meetings - let us know the "going forward" count.
Current average is 3 'going forwards' per meeting - unbelievable! But (November
update) it's was falling! Perhaps we're having some impact?
We ran the meter
for nine months, until the end of December 2009, and noticed a dramatic
reduction in usage over the nine-month period.
We wonder what the next fad phrase will be - if you hear one building up in use,
let us know.
[Nice to see these Going Forward newspaper articles
give us a mention in 2011 and 2012:
link to Guardian newspaper article and
link
to Colleen Ross : Word of Mouth: Insights into the English Language]
| Month | total "going forward" count |
meetings, discussions, presentations where "going forward" was said at least once |
average uses per meeting, discussion, presentation and so on | count status |
| TOTAL to date |
  |
  |
 |
now finished counting |
| December |
|
|
|
complete |
| November |
 |
|
|
complete |
| October |
 |
|
|
complete |
| September |
 |
|
|
complete |
| August |
|
|
|
complete |
| July |
|
 |
|
complete |
| June |
 |
|
|
complete |
| May |
|
|
|
complete |
| April 2009 |
|
|
|
complete |
Examples:
- He's coming back to help going forward
- We cannot back down, going forward.
- Big time marketing, going forward.
- Problems for England's backs, going forward.
- We're off to pastures new, going forward.
- New swine flu concern, going forward.
- I'll do it with your help, going forward.
- We'll need to follow that up, going forward.
- We need to address the issue to ensure we don't repeat it next year, going forward.
- Bringing expenditure into balance will be the big concern of xxxxxxxx xxxxxx, going forward.
- Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, going forward. (only joking - Ed.)
