Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Nobody Makes Bad Progress
Nobody Makes Bad Progress Nobody Makes ââ¬Å"Bad Progressâ⬠Nobody Makes ââ¬Å"Bad Progressâ⬠By Maeve Maddox Three times during a radio interview, a White House spokesman stated that something was ââ¬Å"making good progress.â⬠It occurred to me how often I hear the expression ââ¬Å"good progressâ⬠uttered by politicians and administrators of various stripes. We are making good progress towards introducing a bill that will advance that goal.- A US senator. U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan acknowledged that [our state] is making good progress on our Race to the Top plans.- A state governor. We have been making good progress in three important areas.- A school principal. FTA is making good progress on developing more detailed guidance on which we will seek comment in the near future.- An FTA spokesman. The word progress, both noun and verb, derives from the Latin verb progredi: ââ¬Å"to go forward, proceed, advance.â⬠The English noun progress is defined as ââ¬Å"the process of a series of actions through time.â⬠As a verb, progress means, ââ¬Å"to proceed, advance,â⬠ââ¬Å"to follow an expected course or pattern.â⬠ââ¬Å"Good progressâ⬠is bureaucratic-speak. It sounds good without meaning anything. Itââ¬â¢s enough to say, ââ¬Å"The FTA is making progress on developing more detailed guidance.â⬠Progress may be rapid, slow, encouraging, delayed, or uncertain, but to say it is good is to pad language. ââ¬Å"Good progressâ⬠is often accompanied by other meaningless phrases like ââ¬Å"in the near future,â⬠and ââ¬Å"grounds for optimism.â⬠Ordinary speakers may be forgiven for using the occasional clichà ©, but politicians and others who wish to advance themselves by swaying public opinion should be aware that coming from them, ââ¬Å"good progressâ⬠signals a desire to avoid specifics. Note: The pronunciation of progress differs, according to whether it is used as a noun or as a verb. progress (noun): PRAH-gres (American); PRO-gres (British) progress (verb): pruh-GRES Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Synonyms for ââ¬Å"Angryâ⬠Homogeneous vs. HeterogeneousPersonification vs. Anthropomorphism
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