Word picks for the savvy verbal investor, February 2008
(being the latest installment in the series begun here.)
- It is what it is — BUY — disclaimer: I am heavily invested in this one, and have been for at least a year. This one has been gaining steam. It was spotted by William Safire (sort of the fastidious Warren Buffet of verbal investing) as early as spring 2006, and this Slate article from a few days back calls it a sports cliché for our time. So this is not going to appeal to the value investors out there. The Slate pice criticizes it as an essentially meaningless cop-out. Like all tautologies, sure, if you are parsing it for its logical content, yes, it means little. But it is a short, zen-like way of accepting things the way they are, instantly pulling you out of the imaginary worlds of what might have been and into the present tense, real world. It’s something that everybody needs now and again, and right now, there’s no other phrase that can provide this universal value with such an economy of words. Buy while you still can, kids.
- What have you — SELL — It’s not going to tank tomorrow, but you’re not going to surprise anybody by pulling this one out, you’re just going to sound sort of lazy.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Who’s Warren Buffet? Is he some sort of restaurateur? (Hey, kids! Let’s go down to Warren’s Buffet!)
February 20th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Damn. I was going to say from the makers of “I am what I am” and “Que sera sera” but then I actually read the Safire piece. Damn you Safire for anticipating my joke!
February 20th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
“I do likes me some (fill in the blank) - BUY - Sadly, as this construction has gone from interesting to fey to annoying quickly. Nonetheless its entering its exponential growth phase. Expect your mother to trot this out shortly. “I do likes me some honey on my toast in the morning.”
February 21st, 2008 at 5:01 pm
What kind of options contract are you sitting on that you’re still pushing last year’s It is what it is? The Midwest Corporate Beige Book had that phrase as a strong performer from November 2006 through October 2007, but with a rapid write-down of assets following that. Thinking you can float your contracts out from underwater on the strength of the odd taped phone call is the sort of crass manipulation that gives these linguistics exchanges such a bad rap.
Short timers can get out of What have you because they’re frustrated trying to time this cyclical gem. I’ll HOLD it for the dividends it will keep paying for years, padding out the presentations of account execs, middle managers, powerpoint mumblers, what have you.
Drain this slide — BUY. This gruesome term is making its way through the ranks at Accenture and McKinsey where the phrase, “I’m not going to drain this slide” is nothing but a precursor to the presenter reading all the text on the powerpoint, thereby draining the slide. Investors with some scruple may choose not to invest, but this is an excellent opportunity for an early move.