Today, it is someone else's pocket that persists in our deepest thoughts. For example, if someone visited a casino and blew all of their money on slot machines with nothing in return, they could be exiting the casino out of pocket. ![]() means financial resources: a selection of gifts. Finally, the term out of pocket is used exclusively in British English to refer to being in the position of being out of funds, or having lost money. In the old days, it was our pocket that concerned us. a shaped piece of fabric attached inside or outside a garment and forming a pouch used esp. But the sheer physicality of the phrase is quite revealing. That's the nub of my argument: in today's world, where everyone is expected to be available to almost anyone, at anytime, it's a pleasure - if guilty - to be out of reach. In the predominantly American sense of the phrase to pay out of pocket is to. ![]() In the British sense of the expression, to be out of pocket is to be struck by poverty, resulting in an empty purse. But what you might be hearing, if you paid closer attention, is "hey - don't even bother - you can use email, phone, IM, SMS, carrier pidgeon - there's nothing you can do to reach me at that time - hah." Yes, you are detecting a tone of satisfaction in her voice, because with this one innocuous, though annoying expression, she has taken herself out of your pocket. Out of pocket is a phrase with multiple meanings, that contradict each other and are separated by the geographical origin of the speaker. When your colleague says, "Hey, I'm gonna be out of pocket between 1-3pm today," what you are hearing, on the surface, is that your colleague will be out of reach. Īfter numerous conversations with the guilty and the innocent (many people still adhere to the older, squarish definition), here's what I think: out of pocket in its new, annoying form, does in fact betray under-the-surface thinking about the office. Putting aside the question of whether this is permissible - that's not my beat - is there some unconscious reason why people persist in doing this? The unconscious use of annoying office language is my beat, so I pressed on. Seems a lot of people today, especially in Silicon Valley, are using the phrase this way. Over the past few years, I've heard many people - even smart people - use out of pocket to mean "out-of-reach, not available for some specified period of time." At first, I was merely annoyed (not enough to write something about it). It was also easy to remember because it conveyed a physical experience ("hey - it's coming out of my pocket - it better be tax deductible"). These expenses are tax deductible." Like many great office cliches, out of pocket was easy to remember because it was simple and descriptive. A long time ago - maybe not so long ago, but definitely before the Internet age - in the office, out of pocket had only one popular meaning: it was an accounting term for "expenses that an individual incurs for either business or personal usage. Out-of-Pocket Costs means, with respect to a Party, costs and expenses paid by such Party to Third Parties (or payable to Third Parties and accrued in. In fact, this phrase was the inspiration for this weekly rant. ![]() OK, if you know me well, you already know this: I have a big problem with the way the phrase out of pocket is used in the office today.
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