[Ads-l] New (to me) negative polarity item--"(not) have the bandwidth" as metaphor

[Dan Goncharoff]

It's pretty common in the nonprofit world.

Here's an article from 2012:

http://brightplus3.com/bright-ideas/the-scarcest-resource-at-nonprofits-is-bandwidth-period/#.V2gn8hkpDqA

Dan Goncharoff
PortSide NewYork
portsidenewyork.org
On Jun 20, 2016 1:21 PM, "Geoffrey Steven Nathan" <geoffnathan at wayne.edu>
wrote:

> I can report that, while living in the midst of the technical IT world I
> have heard this term for at least a couple of years in the metaphorical
> sense, and it is used completely unself-consciously.
>
>
> Also used is the related metaphor of being able to 'spare a few cycles' to
> help with some project (in the sense of computer operations as measured in
> cycles per second (actually, these days, usually Giga-cycles per second).
> Sometimes also 'sorry, I can't help--I don't have the cycles available'.
> Don't have actual cites at this point.
>
>
> Geoff
>
>
> Geoffrey S. Nathan
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> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, June 20, 2016 1:12 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: New (to me) negative polarity item--"(not) have the bandwidth" as
> metaphor
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      New (to me) negative polarity item--"(not) have the
> bandwidth" as
>               metaphor
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here's urban dictionary:
>
> BANDWIDTH
> ability (or lack of ability) to complete work given the available =
> resources (people, time, money, etc.)
>
> Since we can't afford to replace the guy who just quit, our department =
> doesn't have enough bandwidth to take on new projects right now.=20
>
> Joe's so overworked, he doesn't even have the bandwidth to train his new =
> assistant.
>
> #work #time #ability #capacity #workload
> by amphora October 25, 2006
>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> My daughter (age 31) just used it in referring to a friend who, given =
> her 12-hour shifts at her new nursing job, "doesn't have the bandwidth" =
> for various other things.  Not being 31 (and not having a boyfriend at =
> Google), I'd never encountered metaphorical bandwidth before.  I haven't =
> checked "Among The New Words", which probably has a relevant decade-old =
> entry. =20
>
> LH=
>
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