> rephrase the discussion in terms of scope I've tried that before, many times, and found it similarly futile. They just start negotiating what the "scope" me

> rephrase the discussion in terms of scope I've tried that before, many times, and found it similarly futile. They just start negotiating what the "scope" means until they've negotiated it back up to what they were originally asking for... because that's what (they think) they actually needed in the first place. Scope is just too vague to be used this precisely.