# Sometimes you just gotta admire the artistry of spin docors **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739 "2015-06-17T13:00:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [June 17, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/1 "2015-06-17T13:00:37Z")
We learned this week the a BIG state-wide program initiative is being delayed. It’s the state’s integrated IT system called STAR, advertised to put all the state agencies onto a common package of software that all talk to each other. It is supposed to make us work much more efficiently and save the state millions. It was scheduled to be partially deployed on July 1. Now they are telling us October … maybe. A normal schlub like me would interpret this as, “The deployment had been delated by at least 3 months.” It was announced as, “The deployment is being _extended_ by 3 months.” Silly me, I thought that extending something you get more of it, not less. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/2 "2015-06-17T14:35:31Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > A normal schlub like me would interpret this as, “The deployment had been delated by at least 3 months.” It was announced as, “The deployment is being _extended_ by 3 months.” Silly me, I thought that extending something you get more of it, not less. That’s awesome. My all-time favorite spin doctor moment, however, was in Frank Luntz’s [Fresh Air interview](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6761960). At some point, Terry Gross asked him to respond to charges that his redefinition of words was Orwellian. His answer was, paraphrasing from memory, “Orwell was an excellent writer who used language very precisely, so when someone says that I use language in an Orwellian fashion, I take that as a compliment about the precision and accuracy of what I’m saying.” Say what you will about the loathsomeness of his profession, it was kind of brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/3 "2015-06-17T18:16:31Z")
We decided to go in a different direction = somebody got fired We have instituted a new tier program designed to be more efficient and address more customer concerns = your rates are going up We’re proud to have served our community since (~100 years ago) = we’re desperate and are attempting to attract older customers who don’t know how to order online ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/4 "2015-06-17T18:51:03Z")
It’s not a bug; it’s a feature! ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/5 "2015-06-19T05:28:05Z")
Lest we forget: “We take care of our negro residents’ interests” “We keep our \* in their place” “Violence occurred” “We kicked some ass” “We are right-sizing our operations” “We just fired 20% of our employees” ---
**Author:** ![yawuntz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a5b964/32.png) [@yawuntz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawuntz)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/6 "2015-06-19T07:48:28Z")
“I do not like this word ‘bomb.’ It is not a bomb. It is a device that is exploding.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/7 "2015-06-19T17:41:15Z")
The Gap is [closing](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/06/15/gap-store-closures/71265912/) 175 stores in order to … be “more vibrant”. Because we all know that chains that are closing a quarter of their outlets are vibrant. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/8 "2015-06-19T17:50:33Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > A normal schlub like me would interpret this as, “The deployment had been delated by at least 3 months.” It was announced as, “The deployment is being _extended_ by 3 months.” Silly me, I thought that extending something you get more of it, not less. To be fair, it may not be spin. Usually projects like that have a project timeline that includes a surprisingly long time to actually roll it out. Where I work, we’ve been working on getting field locations onto the new software for more than a year now, and that’s going according to plan. So when they say "Deployment is extended, it may mean that instead of taking from February through August to roll out all the software, it will now take from February through November due to unforeseen needs to provision extra network equipment, or power or something like that. Not delayed at all; but actually extended; no spin involved. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/9 "2015-06-19T17:52:21Z")
We are cutting hours/staff/raising fees/eliminating options “for your convenience”. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/10 "2015-06-19T17:58:26Z")
One of the states that took steps to bust up unions has called itself a “right to work” state ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-you-just-gotta-admire-the-artistry-of-spin-docors/722739/11 "2015-06-19T23:48:31Z")
Alexander Haig once substituted “at this junction of maturation” for “now”. Everything since that moment has been kind of hollow for me.