Businessmen and salesmen have always played the old "let's try and impress the hell out of each other" game by mouthing certain idiotic phrases meant to convey an attitude...

Amos had mentioned a couple of those phrases in another thread when he said: The flagpole line was part of the subculture of "Madison Avenue ad men" in grey flannel suits who typified and represented the conformist mindset of the 1950's. "Toss it around and see if it makes a salad" was another similar cliché of the era. Most of these ad men were commuters who road the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad from Rye, Greenwich, Stamford, Westport, Wilton and similar communities in suburban New York and Connecticut."

Okay, so we have:

1. "Let's run it up the flagpole and see who salutes" (duh!)
2. "Let's toss it around and see if it makes a salad" (double duh!)

and this one...

3. "we need a guy who can take the ball and run with it" (gaaahh!)

Does it make you feel queasy to hear them? I know it has that effect on me when I hear these phrases during a business discussion, and I hear them a lot! Got any more of these gems? Post 'em here.

If you master 20 or more of these tough-guy-dipstick-in-a-$300-suit abortions of the English language you are probably all ready to fight your way to the top of the corporate world, maximize your returns, prioritize your key objectives, and kick ass in the boardroom.