Going Forward

[Victoria Neufeldt]

I knew I had seen a ref to "going forward" (meaning "looking ahead" or "for
the future", as in things "looking rosy going forward") in Paul Martin's
"Style and Substance" bulletin for the Wall Street Journal.  And I actually
found it, from the July 15, 1997 issue (Vol. 10, No. 9).  He says, "Don't
ask us where this came from"; he deplores it a cliche that has become too
common in WSJ pages, saying that ten years earlier, the expression was rare
and used mostly in the context of "going forward with plans"; but that from
the beginning of 1995, it had appeared in WSJ over 300 times, though "mostly
in quotations".  In an e-mail I received from him today, he says, "of course
it appears more than ever nowadays, mostly in the mouths of business
executives."

So from the above one might say that the present use of the expression dates
from late 94 or early 95, probably initially simply as an extension of
"going forward with plans" and then taking on a kind of cachet among
"forward-looking(!)" business types, before inevitably morphing into cliche
(though still not widely recognized as such).

Victoria

Merriam-Webster, Inc. P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102
Tel: 413-734-3134  ext 124
Fax: 413-827-7262

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of John Staczek
> Sent: Friday, March 10, 2000 7:53 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Going Forward
>
>
> Kathleen,
>
> While I cannot tell you tell when this usage of 'going forward'
> came about,
> I can comment that I first began to hear wit with great regularity in late
> 1997. In mid 1997 I joined the faculty of Thunderbird, The
> American Graduate
> School of International Management (a graduate business school), as a
> linguist in the Modern Languages Department. The form was ubiquitous among
> senior-level managers in finance and accounting. It is widely
> used, perhaps
> overused, in the sense you indicate, 'in the future', and even to replace
> the adjectival use of 'future' or 'next' or 'upcoming' in such
> forms as 'our
> going forward position has to be...' or 'the budget year going forward'.
>
> The language of the B-school, the language of some executive, even
> 'expert2expert' (compare B2B, or 'business to business' language)
> is replete
> with the form. Accountants seem to prefer it and perhaps that is
> a trackable
> source for the form. You need to see and hear such forms as 'expensing',
> 'that's a contra tuition revenue', and a whole host of others. My own
> collection, with decipherment, is growing.
>
> John
> __________
> John Staczek
> Vice President for Faculty
> Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management
> Phoenix AZ
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Kathleen Miller <millerk at NYTIMES.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Friday, March 10, 2000 3:17 PM
> Subject: Going Forward
>
>
> In the following three examples "going forward" seems to be interchangable
> with "in the future", it sounds strange to me. Any idea when this came
> about?
>
> RCN Launches Service in Hyde Park, Mass.
> PR Newswire 3.8.2000
>
> "RCN plans to roll-out the ResiLink bundled packages in every new city or
> town the company launches going forward, while also working to offer these
> valuable packages to our existing customer base."
>
> (no there aren't any words missing.)
>
> PR Newswire 3.9.2000
>
> "We believe thses exchanges, similar to those we completed in late
> February, reflect continued investor confidence in Arch and our growth
> outlook going forward."
>
> Reuters English News service
> 3.8.2000 USA: FOCUS - Oxy buys Permain assests from BP Amoco, Shell.
>
> "The reason is that Altura is not a core asset for BP Amoco or
> Royal Dutch,
> it was more of a legacy that both were grappling with how they should run
> it going forward and disposal for each of them was clearly the
> best option."
>
> Kathleen E. Miller
> Research Assistant to William Safire
> The New York Times
>