4 ms·

“Hemorrhaging” is a pretty common way to describe an exodus of people or money. It’s a common metaphor that’s also used in “stop the bleeding” or the similar “s

“Hemorrhaging” is a pretty common way to describe an exodus of people or money. It’s a common metaphor that’s also used in “stop the bleeding” or the similar “stem the tide”. Business is full of otherwise wildly inappropriate phrases, like “drink the kool-aid” in reference to the mass suicide of nearly 1000 people in the Jonestown cult. I have no idea how that’s considered an appropriate phrase for any situation but I hear it constantly in office settings.

triceratops 7y ago
It was long enough ago that many people have forgotten the origin of the phrase. It's just become one of those sayings that means "buy completely into the idea".
yboris 7y ago
I think you're right in that it's a common phrase in conversation. It just doesn't seem appropriate for a new outlet that attempts to be more-objective than sensationalist. I do see this is an opinion rather than a regular article, but still ... "Hemorrhaging" evokes memories of bleeding, indicating severe danger. I pay a lot of attention to metaphors after reading "Metaphors We Live By" (an excellent classic book).
- freehunter 7y ago
  No, it’s quite common in all kinds of media outlets. Serious news, sports news, opinion pieces, left wing, right wing, entertainment, startups, investing... you’d be hard pressed to find a news outlet that doesn’t use the word “hemorrhaging” in reference to non-blood things. Most words have more than one meaning, this one included. Here’s one from Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284063 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284063 New York Times article saying companies are hemorrhaging money: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-resistance.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-re... CBS Sports talking about how a football team is hemorrhaging players: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cowboys-vs-eagles-injuries-lane-johnson-and-jordan-howard-on-the-mend-cowboys-hemorrhaging-linebackers/ https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cowboys-vs-eagles-injurie... Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-investors-dont-care-that-snap-and-lyft-are-hemorrhaging-money-11556289952 https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-investors-dont-care-that-sn... LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bus-ridership-falling-los-angeles-la-metro-20190627-story.html https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bus-ridership-f... Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-laments-hemorrhaging-of-priests-and-nuns-in-europe https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-laments-hemorrhaging-of-p... The Motley Fool: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/07/24/without-nest-alphabets-moonshots-are-still-hemorrh.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/07/24/without-nest-alpha...
  - yboris 7y ago
    "hemorrhaging money and going out of business" seems a lot more palatable to me (good analogy: humans bleed to death, companies 'bleed' money to 'death'). It feels overly catastrophic to use the word when some people are moving out of a state. I thought America prides itself on "mobility".
magduf 7y ago
>Business is full of otherwise wildly inappropriate phrases, like “drink the kool-aid” in reference to the mass suicide of nearly 1000 people in the Jonestown cult. I have no idea how that’s considered an appropriate phrase for any situation I'm sorry, I don't see the problem. It's a completely apt metaphor for people buying into group-think, with disastrous results. The Jonestown tragedy is a perfect example of what happens when people don't question what they're told, and we should never forget it.
sgustard 7y ago
The issue with the word is that implies something that if left unchecked will cause disaster. So 100k people per year have left, and yet "California’s population still grew by about 2 million over this period". I really don't see the problem.
- goles 7y ago
  But in areas that do have negative growth, more people leave the tax base gets lower, the government has less funding to address issues that cause people to leave, move people leave, etc. No?

triceratops 7y ago

It was long enough ago that many people have forgotten the origin of the phrase. It's just become one of those sayings that means "buy completely into the idea".

yboris 7y ago

I think you're right in that it's a common phrase in conversation. It just doesn't seem appropriate for a new outlet that attempts to be more-objective than sensationalist. I do see this is an opinion rather than a regular article, but still ... "Hemorrhaging" evokes memories of bleeding, indicating severe danger. I pay a lot of attention to metaphors after reading "Metaphors We Live By" (an excellent classic book).

freehunter 7y ago
No, it’s quite common in all kinds of media outlets. Serious news, sports news, opinion pieces, left wing, right wing, entertainment, startups, investing... you’d be hard pressed to find a news outlet that doesn’t use the word “hemorrhaging” in reference to non-blood things. Most words have more than one meaning, this one included. Here’s one from Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284063 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284063 New York Times article saying companies are hemorrhaging money: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-resistance.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-re... CBS Sports talking about how a football team is hemorrhaging players: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cowboys-vs-eagles-injuries-lane-johnson-and-jordan-howard-on-the-mend-cowboys-hemorrhaging-linebackers/ https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cowboys-vs-eagles-injurie... Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-investors-dont-care-that-snap-and-lyft-are-hemorrhaging-money-11556289952 https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-investors-dont-care-that-sn... LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bus-ridership-falling-los-angeles-la-metro-20190627-story.html https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bus-ridership-f... Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-laments-hemorrhaging-of-priests-and-nuns-in-europe https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-laments-hemorrhaging-of-p... The Motley Fool: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/07/24/without-nest-alphabets-moonshots-are-still-hemorrh.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/07/24/without-nest-alpha...
- yboris 7y ago
  "hemorrhaging money and going out of business" seems a lot more palatable to me (good analogy: humans bleed to death, companies 'bleed' money to 'death'). It feels overly catastrophic to use the word when some people are moving out of a state. I thought America prides itself on "mobility".

magduf 7y ago

>Business is full of otherwise wildly inappropriate phrases, like “drink the kool-aid” in reference to the mass suicide of nearly 1000 people in the Jonestown cult. I have no idea how that’s considered an appropriate phrase for any situation I'm sorry, I don't see the problem. It's a completely apt metaphor for people buying into group-think, with disastrous results. The Jonestown tragedy is a perfect example of what happens when people don't question what they're told, and we should never forget it.

sgustard 7y ago

The issue with the word is that implies something that if left unchecked will cause disaster. So 100k people per year have left, and yet "California’s population still grew by about 2 million over this period". I really don't see the problem.

goles 7y ago
But in areas that do have negative growth, more people leave the tax base gets lower, the government has less funding to address issues that cause people to leave, move people leave, etc. No?