ArcaMax

Today, we interview the coiners of two of our most overused cliches. Our first guest is Polly Anna Doubtful, creator of the expression "cautiously optimistic."

Q: How did this semi-oxymoronic phrase start?

A: Back in the early days of the automobile, I was working hard to invent the flashing yellow caution light. You know, the one that means "Keep going but watch out!" When my brother asked me how my project was going, I told him I was "cautiously optimistic." It was supposed to be a little joke.

Q: Did you ever dream the phrase would catch on?

A: Heavens, no! I thought perhaps a few clairvoyants might use it, or perhaps the occasional snake handler. But I never dreamed that business executives, public officials and doctors would adopt it to describe everything from profit projections to prostate prognoses.

Q: Are you sorry you coined it?

A: Not really. After all, where would athletes and coaches be without it? Then all they'd have is tired phrases like "We've come to play," "We have to control the tempo" and "We gotta want it."

Our next inventor is Louis Lugnut, deviser of "The wheels have come off."

Q: So how did you invent the "wheel," er ... "The wheels have come off"?

A: It's a funny story, actually. It was 1966, and I was driving my '57 Chevy Bel Air to high school when the steering wheel came off in my hands. I mean, it literally detached from the steering column.

Noticing this, I said to my buddies in the car, "The wheel has come off." I think those were my exact words. Fortunately, I had slowed down for a flashing yellow caution light, so no one was hurt.

Q: So, you're telling me the original phrase was actually "the WHEEL has come off" and it referred to a steering wheel?

A: Yup. That's why I was so surprised to hear it used 35 years later as a plural referring to the road wheels. It pretty much has the same meaning, though -- utter disaster, except four times worse.

Q: Are you surprised at how often business big wheels today use this phrase to describe projects or enterprises that fail?

A: Not really. If you've ever had the wheels come off your car, a steering wheel come off in your hand or a steering committee fall apart because almost no one shows up for the meetings, it's pretty much the same feeling -- except, with the steering committee meetings, those who do show up get all the leftover donuts.

And that, by the way, is the origin of the common expression, "Donut worry; be happy!"

========

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Copyright 2025 Creators Syndicate Inc.