Pushback?

Martin Kaminer martin.kaminer at GMAIL.COM
Wed Apr 25 17:02:55 UTC 2012


I'm guessing the verb phrase goes back much farther than the noun,
which in my experience has a narrower, euphemistic and delegitimizing
nuance.  'Pushback' in corporate-sprach is the way a person
promulgating an idea characterizes anticipated objection.  I don't
believe I've heard it used by those being "promulgated at" to
characterize their response, which I imagine they'd describe as
legitimate.

On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 12:48 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Pushback?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In my experience, "push back" (as a verb) quickly became common in the news
> after Nine-Eleven. I recall the unspeakable Ward Churchill talking about
> the Third World "pushing back" at last against the United States.
>
> The noun is rather more recent.
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 12:02 PM, Martin Kaminer
> <martin.kaminer at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Martin Kaminer <martin.kaminer at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Pushback?
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Good point.  I'm looking now on a number of ".mil" sites but seeing it
>> used only in the sense of "resistance to an idea, suggestion or
>> proposal" eg  http://www.army.mil/search/?search=pushback
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:50 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
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>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>> > Subject:      Re: Pushback?
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Was "Pushback" used in any official dispatch? I only see it in the
>> headline
>> > written by the AFPO, the Armed Forces Press Office, the US military's PR
>> > arm.
>> >
>> > DanG
>>
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