Worst corporate jargon of the week: Run it up the flagpole
Running it up the flagpole: what does it mean? Who uses it? Should we be worried? City A.M. gives their verdict on a retro piece of jargon.
Offender: Run it up the flagpole
Every one of us has been on an email chain which is borderline unintelligible for the amount of corporate lingo thrown in there. At City A.M., we’re taking a stand and calling out the worst jargon which travels around the City faster than you can drink an overpriced pint. This week: run it up the flagpole.
What does it mean?
Reader, hold onto your seatbelts: the jury is split.
The traditional school of thought claims it means to run an idea by others and see how it is received before making a decision. But (*gasps*) there is a revisionist clique who believe it refers to delegating a decision to somebody higher up.
Language is evolutionary, its meaning adapts, so really who’s to say who’s right? Today, it’s us – City A.M.
While we admire the plight of the latter school, it is the first who remain truer to the roots of the idiom. It originally comes from the phrase “run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it”, first coined by Madison Avenue ad men in the 1950s and 60s.
Used in an email:
Great idea, but I have commitment issues and like to delegate responsibility, how about we run it up the flagpole?
Who uses it?
Allegedly, it’s quite in vogue amongst City lawyers, who, every time a decision needs to be made, insist on first “running it up the flagpole”. We expected better from our learned friends, who are nothing if not a stickler for detail.
Offenders may also suggest to test the waters, float an idea, get a pulse on it, put it on the table, throw it at the wall and see if it sticks; one thing’s for sure, they’ll never just say “let’s talk about it”.
If we’re being charitable, the lingo could be a way of hiding insecurity. “Let’s run that one up the flagpole,” is what they say. “I don’t actually have any authority but would rather use a thousand idioms than admit that out loud,” is what they mean. They deserve your pity.
What could it be confused with?
- Running actual flags up actual flagpoles
- That sweet 1-up you get at the end of a Mario Bros level
- Other things we can’t put in a friendly business newspaper
Should we be worried?
Undoubtedly. The phrase was conceived 70 years ago and still endures. The moon landing, the Cold War, the GFC, the breakup of the Spice Girls: running it up the flagpole has seen it all and fails to be moved. Like foxes on London buses, it has become complacent and we must act.
How do we get rid of it?
We suggest securing a red flag and keeping it handy. Wave with reckless abandon.
