zero-sum game

[Jonathan Lighter]

Here it seems to mean a seemingly endless competitive enterprise that is
ulrimately futile for all concerned:

2006 Ronald J. Glasser _Wounded: Vietnam to Iraq_ (N.Y.: George Braziller)
55: Whatever the final tactics though, if one side's price goes up, so will
the other. In a strange but real way, modern warfare has all become a kind
of crazed zero sum game.

JL

On Sun, Jun 3, 2012 at 10:30 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: zero-sum game
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This one actually seems OK to me--the idea being that US plays as if
> there is something win or lose, while the point of the article is that
> cooperation is a win for both sides. Again, not criticizing content
> here, merely the expression. And the expression does not raise any flags
> with me.
>
>     VS-)
>
> On 6/3/2012 9:26 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> > ...
> >
> > No longer really relevant but FWIW, the China article at
> http://goo.gl/8AHyo uses the expression at the end, but I should have
> pointed out the word "game" is left out:
> >
> > "We hope the US will abandon its zero-sum thought and play a
> constructive role in increasing mutual trust, promoting common development
> and maintaining regional peace and stability."
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett
> > Seattle, WA
>
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