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Antonyms are used to express the opposite of a word. Antonym definitionĪn antonym is a word, adjective, verb or expression whose meaning is opposite to that of a word. This avoids repetitions in a sentence without changing its meaning. Synonyms are other words that mean the same thing. Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max BrandĪ synonym is a word, adjective, verb or expression that has the same meaning as another, or almost the same meaning.But now came a tide of other news, and almost all of it was stale stuff to him.Extract from : « Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus » by Jessie Graham Flower.You may be almost the first girl to apply, or you may be among the latest, but not the too latest.Extract from : « United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches » by Various.The resources of this country are almost beyond computation.Weel, man, that's a-year-and-a-half, and you must be almost a man noo.Extract from : « Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.I had almost omitted to add, that he was a ladies' haberdasher.Extract from : « Malbone » by Thomas Wentworth Higginson.She was almost in it was only a slight dizziness, yet she could not see the light-house.Extract from : « Harriet, The Moses of Her People » by Sarah H.It was almost impossible to win their confidence, or to get information from them.They're really one and a half sizes too small, and almost kill me.Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson.Almost every Barbarian at the table had made his own fortune.Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child.The request, thus aided by flattery, was almost unanimously granted.Hopefully these ideas give you a reason to pause and perhaps change the language you use with yourself and your team.įorbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. For a leader, these choices take on even greater importance. We can choose words and focus on meanings that serve us, or we can create stress and negativity if we choose less wisely. Make sure your decisions and how you communicate them balance logic and emotion. But as leaders, we are responsible for considering all the benefits, perspectives and needs of our businesses. Yes, emotion always plays a role in decision-making. The challenge here is the emotion behind the phrase. The intent is fine, but don’t stop critically thinking about the choice or decision simply because it is prefaced by this phrase. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have made this decision” means a choice was made to mitigate risk. Again, I have no problem with this phrase and what it's imparting - on the surface.īut when people use it to justify a decision, that decision is too often taken as an unassailable point.
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The goal is to manage but not eliminate - because the elimination of risk is nearly impossible. Being a successful human being requires us to look for, understand and mitigate risks. Too much focus on "being safe" just isn't good business practice.įollowing my concerns with “be safe” comes this phrase: “out of an abundance of caution.” Caution is important - we need to be wise about mitigating and overcoming risks. Make sure that you are willing to take risks, and encourage your team to do so in the areas of marketing, sales, product development and customer service. Keep this in mind: It is clear that we can play it too safe in many areas of our businesses. When we don’t distinguish the difference in our mind, we move from awareness to cocooned and scared. But we can be too wary, too guarded and too careful. Of course, we want everyone to be unharmed and healthy. And for the “cautious and conservative” definition, synonyms include wary, unadventurous, guarded and careful. First, for the “free from harm” definition, some synonyms are protected, secure, sheltered, unharmed, unhurt and uninjured. But I want everyone to be mentally and psychologically healthy too.Īnd that’s where I think we have to be a bit careful with the word "safe." Consider synonyms for two definitions of the word safe. Do I want people to be physically safe during these challenging times? Of course I do. This phrase graces more email signature lines and is used at the end of more conversations than you might believe. Will you remain fully remote? Will you create a hybrid model of work? Engage your team in this discussion because they have a clear stake in what the definition of "new normal" will be. While you may not yet know what the "new normal" will be, it is time to think about and plan for the future of work. But will “the new normal” all be a worse kind of different? I highly doubt it. Without question, the future will look different because of what we have experienced and learned in 2020.
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