Re: The new way to grow (WAS The new way to office)

[John Posada <jposada -at- NOTES -dot- CC -dot- BELLCORE -dot- COM>]

On Tue, 13 Feb 1996, Ray Fernandez wrote:
... does anyone have a problem with the verb grow in the
following question: "Do you want to grow your business?"

** Yes, I have a problem with it.  When we grow chrysanthemums or
   barley, we're talking about growing them from their inception.
   Growing a business (or growing the economy, as President Clinton likes
   to say) these days refers to further developing something that is
   already around, so it's a new and conflicting usage.

----------------

If I buy a tree that's 3 years old and 5 or 6 feet high, I can grow that tree
into a 30 foot oak...right?   Likewise, if I buy a house with a lawn already in
place, will I not be growing a lawn from this point forward?

On the otherhand, if I start a business today that wasn't around yesterday, am
I not growing that business from inception?

I personally have a problem with the term growing a business from a purely
sound perspective.  It just doesn't sound right.  "It hurts my ears."  (I LIKED
that movie) . On the otherhand, I have no problem with the term being
applicable to increasing the size of a business.

As a side note but in the same vein, I hate the word copacetic even though I
know it's a real word and perfectly acceptable.


John Posada
Technical Writer
Bell Communications Research, Piscataway, NJ
(908) 699-5839 (W)
jposada -at- notes -dot- cc -dot- bellcore -dot- com  (W)
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