Have you noticed that no one "makes progress" or "goes ahead" anymore? It seems to be an unwritten rule now that you can only "move forward." I see and hear the phrase everywhere.
I've been conducting my own informal experiment: Is it possible to get through a day without hearing or reading "move forward"? It appears not.
My radio listening is pretty much limited to National Public Radio, but I'm starting to suspect that anyone who appears on the show must be required to say "move forward" at least once. ("Go forward" is encouraged, too.) One day this week, I turned on the radio and heard "move forward" within five minutes. The next day, soon after I flipped on the car radio, I heard "move on" three times in less than three minutes. The next day, I heard "move on" less than ten seconds after tuning into NPR.
Television is not immune. News programs are full of "move forwards," and I even heard the term in a commercial a couple of days ago. I also receive email messages that urge me to donate money so that research or a campaign can move forward.
I'm fascinated by trendy terms like this. Why, really, do they catch on? What mysterious force pulls certain words out of the vast sea of possible phrases and makes them somehow fashionable? It's a mystery to me.
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