# Gerrymandering myself out of a great job **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 11, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633 "2007-12-11T18:04:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/21 "2007-12-11T20:22:57Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] I can’t find a single definition online to support this, nor does my _Webster’s Third International_. Gerrymandering refers to drawing or redrawing of political boundaries, not the manipulation of numbers. [/QUOTE] I was tallking off the top of my head, as I was in a meeting and didn’t have a dictionary. In the context I used the word, I was probably inferring it’s connotation (manipulation) not its definition. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/22 "2007-12-11T20:28:04Z")
> [@](#): > > So… > > I brought the dictionary to his office and showed him the entry for gerrymandering. He took the book, read the entry, handed it back and said… wait for it… > > “Well, I’ve never heard that word before. Don’t use it.” > > OK… what are your feelings on the word ‘asshole?’ Your boss is the [Pointy Hair Boss](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20071125.html) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/23 "2007-12-11T20:30:28Z")
A gazillion eons ago when I was still on active duty, deployed to Sicily, and frequently bored, I used to flip open the dictionary looking for new and exciting words. The maintenance control chiefs thought this was hilarious, and frequently asked me for the word du jour. Off the top of my head, I recall sharing \*persiflage \* and _panache_ - I was already familiar with panache, but it was still worth sharing. They didn’t mock me - at least, not to my face. After all, I was a mighty Lt j.g. at the time. _\_ ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/24 "2007-12-11T20:31:49Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Ask him for a list of all the other words you can’t use because he’s never heard of them. [/QUOTE] This is _TOO_ good! And I _LOVE_ the image of you having to report to his office with a dictionary. What is this, pre-school? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/25 "2007-12-11T20:36:20Z")
[QUOTE=pbbth] Well, the purpose of drawing and redrawing those political boundaries is to manipulate the information within those boundaries to bias the result of the information. [/QUOTE] Huh? > [@](#): > > For instance, no one moves into or out of a county but they redraw the boundaries so that the county is primarily republican/hispanic/male/under 40/etc. They are manipulating the number of republicans/hispanics/males/people under 40/etc within the boundary by changing the boundary. Your first use of the word “boundary” is not the same as your second use. The first boundary no longer exists, so it makes no sense to say that the number of people in it has changed. Yes, the \*purpose \*of gerrymandering is to create a political district with a particular population distribution, but that doesn’t mean that the \*definition \*of gerrymandering is the manipulation of numbers. In a limited sense, gerrymandering might be considered to be _one example_ of number manipulation, but that is all. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/26 "2007-12-11T21:22:28Z")
I suggest you tell him to play [this game.](http://freerice.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/27 "2007-12-11T22:14:00Z")
I agree with Contrapuntal, the OP used the term gerrymander incorrectly. It has no other definition than the redrawing of political district boundaries for partisan reasons. It would be incorrect to say that General Petraeus gerrymandered Iraq casualty figures to give the troop surge a greater appearance of success. But it doesn’t make the OP’s boss any less of an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/28 "2007-12-11T22:57:37Z")
I disagree. If you consider that departments are analogous to political districts, and those not working over the holidays are analogous to, say, Republicans, then it makes perfect sense. Instead of physically redrawing the district lines, you’re changing what department people are working for during the holiday season. In other words, each department now has the required amount of Democrats. I think the word was used correctly. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/29 "2007-12-11T23:53:19Z")
Nobody in the meeting had a laptop to look up a word? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/30 "2007-12-12T00:13:18Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Next time you’re going to use cromulent, right? 🙂 [/QUOTE] No, use [curmudgeon](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=curmudgeon). And if he asks for the dictionary, tape a mirror to the opposite page. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/31 "2007-12-12T01:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger] I disagree. If you consider that departments are analogous to political districts, and those not working over the holidays are analogous to, say, Republicans, then it makes perfect sense. Instead of physically redrawing the district lines, you’re changing what department people are working for during the holiday season. In other words, each department now has the required amount of Democrats. I think the word was used correctly. [/QUOTE] If blood is analogous to pizza, then a transfusion can correctly be called a take-out order. If you are not talking about redrawing political lines, you are not talking about gerrymandering. And yes, the boss is a doofus. I did not mean to suggest otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/32 "2007-12-12T02:03:50Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] If blood is analogous to pizza, then a transfusion can correctly be called a take-out order. If you are not talking about redrawing political lines, you are not talking about gerrymandering. \ [/QUOTE] Nice try, but, if blood was analogous to pizza, a transfusion would be a “put-in” order. 😉 The point is, you’re rearranging what departments (districts) people are in, in order to fill a need, which is enough workers (voters) available. Instead of redrawing political lines, you’re redrawing departmental lines. I think it’s a great analogy. Obviously, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/33 "2007-12-12T02:09:40Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger] Nice try, but, if blood was analogous to pizza, a transfusion would be a “put-in” order. [/QUOTE] Hey! You don’t get to take it with you? You’re getting ripped off! > [@](#): > > I think it’s a great analogy. Obviously, YMMV. It may or may not be. Analogies are not definitions, however. If he had said “It’s like gerrymandering,” perhaps. He didn’t. He said that it \*was \*gerrymandering. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/34 "2007-12-12T02:14:05Z")
This reminds me of the time, in a staff meeting with Brunhilde the Barely Knowledgeable Boss, I said “that’s a fallacious statement!”. Guess what she thought ‘fallacious’ meant? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/35 "2007-12-12T03:00:39Z")
Perhaps you should simply boycott meetings. But I _love_ the suggestion that you demand … oops … request … a list of all the other words pointy-haired boss doesn’t know. 🙂 I bet Scott Adams would like that story: perhaps you should wrap the story up in pretty shiny paper and send it to him as a Christmas present. (I once had everyone in the office (ahem library) flummoxed when I used the word “pedantic”. It was strange trying to explain without sounding too, well, you know). ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/36 "2007-12-12T03:19:28Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Hey! You don’t get to take it with you? You’re getting ripped off! It may or may not be. Analogies are not definitions, however. If he had said “It’s like gerrymandering,” perhaps. He didn’t. He said that it \*was \*gerrymandering. [/QUOTE] Let’s compromise. He should have said, “I had to, like, gerrymander it, duh. Gosh.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/37 "2007-12-12T03:21:41Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger] Let’s compromise. He should have said, “I had to, like, gerrymander it, duh. Gosh.” 😃 [/QUOTE] Hey, I had no problem with his usage until he offered a definition that was incorrect. Ain’t no thang. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/38 "2007-12-12T07:33:35Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] It may or may not be. Analogies are not definitions, however. If he had said “It’s like gerrymandering,” perhaps. He didn’t. He said that it \*was \*gerrymandering. [/QUOTE] So he used a metaphor instead of a simile. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/39 "2007-12-12T08:21:00Z")
From [here](http://www.word-detective.com/030299.html): > [@](#): > > Gerry and the Beebs. > > Dear Word Detective: I was listening to our estimable BBC Radio 4 the other morning, and heard mention of a word that has subsequently perplexed me, namely “gerrymandering,” to divide land into electoral units for the benefit of one group of people. Could you please be so kind as so explain its meaning? – Simeon Holdship, Brussels, Belgium. > > Certainly, but first, three cheers for the good old BBC. Now that I find myself playing the role of gentleman farmer in East Out There, Ohio (I grow the finest tax liens in the county, I’ll have you know), I have found the BBC World Service on shortwave an invaluable source of news. People keep telling me that I should listen to National Public Radio, but that cloying sing-song their newscasters all affect drives me absolutely bananas. > > Incidentally, for lively accounts of the birth of “gerrymander” and dozens of other American linguistic inventions, I heartily recommend “America In So Many Words” (Houghton Mifflin, $18.00) by David K. Barnhart and Allan A. Metcalf. > > “Gerrymander,” meaning to fiddle with the boundaries of electoral districts in order to favor a particular party or constituency, is one of the most wonderful inventions of what H.L. Mencken called “the American Language.” > > It all started back in 1812, when Governor Elbridge Gerry decided to rearrange the contours of the Congressional districts in Massachusetts to boost his Democratic party’s fortunes. His partisan maneuver drew the attention of Gilbert Stuart, editorial artist for the Boston Centinel newspaper, who incorporated a map of the new districts into a cartoon. By adding a few lines to the map, Stuart created a creature closely resembling a salamander, a small lizard-like amphibian. Centinel Editor Benjamin Russell immediately dubbed the creature a “Gerrymander,” the cartoon became one of the most famous in American history, and “gerrymander” entered the American political lexicon. > > According to Barnhart and Metcalf, both Governor Gerry and artist Gilbert Stuart went on to further fame. Gerry eventually became Vice President under James Madison. Stuart’s mark was a bit more lasting. In addition to having drawn the very first “gerrymander,” Gilbert Stuart painted the portrait of George Washington that adorns the U.S. one-dollar bill. I also checked several dictionaries, and they only have the political district manipulating meaning. From [here](http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/gerrymander?view=uk): > [@](#): > > gerrymander > > • verb manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favour one party or class. > > — ORIGIN from the name of Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts + SALAMANDER, from the supposed similarity between a salamander and the shape of a new voting district created when he was in office (1812), which was felt to favour his party. There are many words in play that describe the process of manipulating resources. There are many words that describe the process of manipulating numbers. Gerrymandering is not one of them, although Gerry Mander did play the Beaver in _Leave it to Beaver_. No, that was Jerry Mathers, who died in Vietnam - you can look it up on the interweb. One of the standard **Bullshit Boss Sayings** is that good bosses want everyone else in the room to be smarter than they are. I don’t believe it for a minute. There’s a special brand of boss who needs to either actually be the smartest person in the room, or to have the illusion of such. These bosses generally don’t like it when an employee shows any sign of being smarter or better educated - especially in a meeting. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633/40 "2007-12-12T09:52:02Z")
> [@Flander](#): > > The next person who says “shenanigans…” I call “asinine hijinks” on that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerrymandering-myself-out-of-a-great-job/429633.md?page=3)