# Consultants

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consultants/35012>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [September 29, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consultants/35012 "2000-09-29T15:29:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![McTavish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@McTavish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McTavish)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consultants/35012/1 "2000-09-29T15:29:25Z")

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Or More specifically, the daft phrases dreamt up by them. It shouldn’t be, but the origin of one particularly silly phrase has been nagging me for days.

“Thinking outside the box.”

Can anyone tell me which daft ha’porth (or partnership or corporation thereof) came up with that little gem?

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consultants/35012/2 "2000-09-30T01:44:48Z")

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Hello, and welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board!

I’m Anthracite - nobody important, but I thought you deserved some sort of answer.

Probably the reason you have not received any answers is because you have posted in the wrong forum on accident. This is a common error new people make, so don’t get down about it. If **I** were a Moderator, I would move your thread to the **General Questions** forum, where it might receive a better response. Since I am not, you should likely e-mail a Moderator (such as the charming Mr. **manhattan** ) and ask that they move your thread to whatever forum it best belongs in. Please don’t re-post your thread over there, as it is normally much better to have it be moved.

And as to your post - I assume it comes from the same sort of place other such witty phrases come from, such as:

“Let’s think win-win”  
“Lets pursue this on a moving-forward basis.”  
“Speak I-You-I”  
“Listen with your heart”

Etc. I mean, these things are cranked out by the barrel-load by the creators of such Corporate Propaganda as \*\*Seven Habits, People First, Managing Interpersonal Relationships, Counselor-Salesperson, \*\* and so forth. All of which I have been forced to sit through. (Ugh!)

Sincerely,  
Anthracite

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**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consultants/35012/3 "2000-09-30T02:14:12Z")

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**Anthracite** said:

> [@](#):
>
> If **I** were a Moderator, I would move your thread to the **General Questions** forum, where it might receive a better response.

Not that anyone is aggravated they aren’t a moderator, or anything.

Personally, if I was a mod, I would make vicious fun of the misplaced question and embarrass the hell out of you. But that’s just me–I’m a known not-nicenick.

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**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consultants/35012/4 "2000-09-30T03:24:40Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MysterEcks \*  
> \*\*Personally, if I was a mod, I would make vicious fun of the misplaced question and embarrass the hell out of you. But that’s just me–I’m a known not-nicenick. \*\*

As usual, I disagree.

If you were a moderator you would be more likely to give **McTavish** a nudge over to GQ and maybe even give him/her a hand with the thread title. But you would add a mysterious post. Something along the lines of:

> [@](#):
>
> Welcome stranger,  
> I’d take you to our leader but you might never return.  
> So off you go.

I’m sure you would inject a little more wit into it, of course.

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consultants/35012/5 "2000-09-30T03:45:23Z")

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Yeah, this is a GQ thread. A mod will be by shortly. Have fun!

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**Author:** ![Adriatic\_Ionian\_AEgean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Adriatic\_Ionian\_AEgean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adriatic_Ionian_AEgean)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consultants/35012/6 "2000-09-30T16:12:56Z")

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Looks like you got here too late. He already “moved” it himself.
