Term "optics" to describe public perception. Huh? A Canadian thing perhaps?

[stuyguy]

I was reading a thread in the Pit or GD that linked to a Canadian news story that used the term "optics" more than once. To me, optics has always been a science and engineering word, and nothing else. But from the context of the story, I gathered that it also means the "appearances" or "public perception" of an act or situation.

Here's one quote from the story that illustrates the usage:

...Liz Drebit is president of the local CUPE union and, while admitting yesterday that the optics were bad -- "yes, I understand the optics," she says -- she would offer little comment beyond stating that the brouhaha over the lowering of the flag is "definitely not a money issue."...

I am something of a news/politics/public affairs junkie, yet I have never before heard this term used in this way. Is it new? Is it Canadian?

[Bryan Ekers]

Funny, I thought we'd back-burnerized the use of "optics". I must have unattended a meeting.

[Gorsnak]

Never heard it used that way, myself. Maybe it's an internal CUPE thing.

[Larry Mudd]

Huh. I always thought this was the sort of PR-speak that I habitually scape-goat American influence for.

I guess Communications majors can be just as rock-dumb up here.

[St_Ides]

Can't say I've ever heard it used that way either.

Sounds prety dumb, actually.

[Canadjun]

I don't have any cites, but I have heard certainly the term used before, and I knew immediately what the article meant. No idea whether it's used south of the border though, and I wouldn't consider it particularly common up here except among the serious spin-doctors. It's sort of a noun idiom to go along with the verb idiom "looks". "It looks bad when we do that" = "That has bad optics"

[Critical Mass]

Canadian here.

I use the word the same way as it is quoted in the OP.

It is a handy way of communicating how an action or policy might or might not be perceived.

I didn't realize that it wasn't a popular term.

[Northern Piper]

I'm quite familiar with the word being used that way.

[RickJay]

I've seen "optics" used that way for years. Maybe it's a Canadian thing, like calling electricity "hydro."

[Scruloose]

Originally Posted by stuyguy

I was reading a thread in the Pit or GD that linked to a Canadian news story that used the term "optics" more than once.

Heh - I was reading the same thread/articles and just about started this identical thread. I've never seen the word used in that manner before now.

[Northern Piper]

Originally Posted by RickJay

Maybe it's a Canadian thing, like calling electricity "hydro."

Which is not a pan-Canadian idiom, but primarily a Central Canadian one. If I hear someone use it, I know they're not from the Prairies, since our power usually isn't hydro-based. (no surprise )

[Larry Mudd]

It appears to be used the same way by Americans.

Here:

Originally Posted by San Diego Untion-Tribune

[Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean] had reservations about the Dubai Ports World deal.

"The optics are bad," Kean said. "It doesn't give you a lot of confidence. I understand why people are concerned, given the history of the country."

[Balduran]

Another Canadian here. I started hearing it a couple of years ago with the meaning of the OP. I also just figured it was imported American PR-speak.

[SanibelMan]

I'm not Canadian, but I was a journalism major in college and ran in the same circles as a lot of PR majors, and I'd never heard "optics" used that way before I read that article.

[WotNot]

Originally Posted by qwest

It is a handy way of communicating how an action or policy might or might not be perceived.

Is it significantly handier than the word "appearance", which would otherwise seem to fit the bill? I only ask because a side-benefit of using "appearance" would be that it could be readily understood by the majority of English-speakers, for whom "optics" means something else entirely.

I realise, of course, that Public Relations professionals, being primarily in the business of communicating with the public, may not necessarily place a high value on the meaning and content of their words being easily comprehended, but I thought I'd make the suggestion anyway.

[Critical Mass]

I’m not a public relations expert. I am a senior operations manager. I am involved in decision making which affects different groups of people. Clients, employees and various government regulatory agencies.

I use the term optics to describe how an action may be (or has been) perceived by groups who may not have, or don’t care about all of the data available to me when the decision is (was) being made. All they know is what they see and all they care about is how it impacts them. And I don’t expect anything more from them. My job is to try to look at issues from all angles and all perspectives and make a decision that are the least unacceptable to everyone to whom I answer.

I do use the term as a noun, the same way that I would use any other performance rating value. I find that it is a tidy way of asking how something will be perceived by others given what I think their understanding of and possible competing interest in the situation is.

Could appearance substitute for optics? I suppose that it could, though I feel that some nuance would be left behind.

FWIW - I don't use the term outside of internal company communication.

[Derleth]

Originally Posted by qwest

FWIW - I don't use the term outside of internal company communication.

In other words, it's jargon and not something that should escape into the wild.

[aldiboronti]

I put the question to the Word Origins board.

It turns out that the sense is in OED and is borrowed from the French (which explains the Canadian usage).

Here's the relevant OED entry:

Optic, 2.c

"A particular way of interpreting or experiencing something; a viewpoint, a perspective.
Freq. in contexts dealing with French literature, critical theory, etc.
1958 French Rev. 31 386 Schehadé's optic resembles that of Cirardoux insofar as both dramatists tend to see life through the eyes of innocence."

A Dutch contributor notes that optiek in Dutch can mean 'opinion, 'point of view', and that this too comes from the French.

[astro]

It's been "corporate speak" jargon for some time throughout the western business world. Origin is likely from political PR meisters.

[David Simmons]

Originally Posted by qwest

Canadian here.

I use the word the same way as it is quoted in the OP.

Well, cut it out.

[Boyo Jim]

I was thinking it was a subset of "metrics". Metrics is basically all the statics gathered about some specific thing or project, and I thought "optics" might be some identified key statistics among them considered as forecasters. The optics might be good or bad or unclear.

I decided to share this. Even though it is apparently wrong, I like it better.

[RickJay]

Originally Posted by Northern Piper

Which is not a pan-Canadian idiom, but primarily a Central Canadian one. If I hear someone use it, I know they're not from the Prairies, since our power usually isn't hydro-based. (no surprise )

I'm curious as to what provinces you are defining as being the "Prairies." The vast majority of Manitoba's power is hydroelectric - like, ninety percent. So in their case they're certainly very hydroelectric-dependent.

Ironically, Ontario is actually one of the few provinces that ISN'T mostly hydroelectrically run. Most of Ontario's power is generated by nuclear fuel.

[alice_in_wonderland]

I've heard "optics" used the same way as the OP, and I've used it in work situations where it was appropriate.

But I don't drop it in casual conversation...

"I was going to wear my new dress but I was worried about the optics of wearing white after labour day..."

heh.