I’d forgotten about this one because, mercifully, people don’t seem to use it any more. But I just got it again, in an email. I first heard it six or seven years ago and it stopped me in my tracks like a terrible smell. It just sounds wrong. How can you cover something off? It doesn’t make sense.
It’s a pointless addition. “Is there anything you’d like to cover off on the call?” someone says. Why not just say: “Is there anything you’d like to cover on the call?” The second option has the twin benefits of greater economy and actual meaning.
I don’t know where these stupid things come from. But I suspect that some people sit around for ages thinking them up deliberately, like Oscar Wilde used to do. Except that Oscar Wilde was a master of wit and these people are just trying to make themselves look slicker or more intelligent by squeezing out meaningless drivel like ‘cover off’.
They’re probably the kind of people that employ the ‘self’ suffix all the time because they think it makes them sound more professional.
“And will it just be yourself attending, sir?”
“Just address it to myself, if you would.”
“Excellent, myself will see yourself at 2pm, then. I may invite a couple of other selves to the meeting so we can get a broader perspective.”
Cretins.
So, please bear this in mind: You can tick off, mark off, set off, let off, run off, sound off and round off. You can skive off, drive off, kick off, tip off, rip off, sack off and jack off. You can spin off, slink off, hand off, stand off, get off, fend off and send off. Most importantly, you can just fuck off.
But you CANNOT cover off.
You just can’t.
11 comments:
As someone who likes to call themselves a software architect a can't agree with #2, but this one is spot on!
I just was told cover off something today from my superior. I was like what does that mean. Thanks for this post!
Too bad people in my company are still using this phrase. I too think it ridiculous to use the two words together! Like you say, How do you "Cover Off" except to remove a covering??
Hmmm. I wonder if your CT is the same as my CT? My CT management uses this ridiculous nonsensical phrase also.
Howdy Bad PR, thanks for this post. Someone just said this in an email, I took it to mean they are upset about something and found your blog through trying to look it up.
So out of curiosity, do you have any thoughts on what it is intended to convey? This guy wants to "cover off on a few things" and seems upset. To me it sounds like "square off."
Any insights you might have in to intended meaning greatly appreciated.
"Cover off" is an idiot's phrase if there ever was one. In my company the tool that uses it seem to substitute it for 'discuss.' Instead of saying, "There are several items I would like to discuss," he says, "There are several items I'd like to cover off." I hope I never hear the phrase again. I pity the fool that would actually use it in written form.
Oh dear, guilty as charged! I've used it without really thinking about it too much which I guess is your point. Personally, I use it when I want to finish and close a task(cover + check off = cover off). Just requesting a discussion does not imply any purpose or that any objective will be met. Anyway, I consider myself reprimanded and shall leverage some green sky and blue field thinking in order to strategise a replacement to bring to the table!
I have heard this BS phrase used since the 1980s, believe it or not, just not as often.
As someone else said, people seem to use it in meetings when they want to finish and close a discussion or a task: (cover + check off = cover off).
Received an email with this...David – I can cover off my item verbally, as have spoken with X
Confused to say the least, not sure if he is pissed off that I put him down as an Action on some minutes or he has completed his task.
lol.
Checking in 10 years after this post originally went up. Sad to report that my office has recently caught a deadly case of "cover off"... It's spreading like a fungus.
Just got it in an email from a parent to the school I work in - is there no end to the banality of evil in 2022!
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