Enough with the reaching out…

I don’t know how phrases get to be so common. I commented previously about my distaste for “no problem” being the nearly universal response to “thank you.” Unfortunately, “no problem” hasn’t lost any steam. I even see it in instant messaging – “np.” Ugh.

The newest offender that is approaching universal usage is “reaching out” as in “I just wanted to reach out to you” or “I’m gonna reach out to Fred.” Reach out? You mean you’re going to send Fred an email, right? There won’t be any actual reaching, will there?

I think there’s an appropriate time to use the “reaching out” lingo. “I try to reach out to my hermit neighbor, but she doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.” That’s acceptable. I think “reaching out” carries a certain weight with it. It’s for tough situations. So when someone says something like they’re going to reach out to Fred, I think they’re trying to make that sound like a much bigger deal than it is. It’s a way of inflating the value of the act.

Regardless, that’s enough with the reaching out already. Just say you’re going to send Fred an email.