I swear I hear the term, or its variants, every day. For those who don’t recognize it, it refers to someone who went overboard with a statement or action and is now reversing direction or “walking it back”. Thing is, I don’t think I’d ever heard it in my life 3 months ago. Just now, the banner on CNN said “Trump administration walks back on the 20% import tax on Mexico.” (Paraphrased)
Is it just me, or has this term spread like a virus recently?
I’ve been hearing it for years. Here’s an article on its use from 2012.
You may be hearing it more now because there are so many things being said that need to be walked back.
What’s “redacted”, some kind of dinosaur??
“Redacted” means expunged from some kind of released version of some transcript. Not that whatever didn’t happen, but that that specific tidbit of info is going to be kept secret. For example, the name of a child victim in a criminal complaint.
“Walk back” is all about “Somebody said something they now regret and are trying to re-interpret or otherwise minimize what was said.”
There’s really no connection or overlap between the two terms.
“Redactions” also refer to the black lines you see on official or legal documents hiding specific pieces of information.
I suppose the connection is that people who want to “walk back” some statement they made wish they could redact it from the official and unofficial record.
[Comment redacted]
I haven’t heard it either. We say “backpedaling” when someone is trying to go back on something stupid they’ve said.
Just another one of those catchy phrases that come into fashion. Some stick around, others fade. “Issues” for problems has become victorious. As has “reach out to” for contact. For a while i was seeing “pushback” all the time. You’ve most likely noticed the “'So…” taking the place of “'Well…” Then there is “opine” and “kerfuffle” and “blood and treasure” and “going forward” and “go ahead and…” and the Englishisms used by Americans like “spot-on” and “one-off” and “brilliant” and “what is she on about?” “Here’s the thing…” had its 15 minutes, as has “15 minutes of fame”. I love getting irritated by all these horrible usages!
I guess it’s interesting how some of these words and phrases inch their way into common usage, and others seem to hit you like a sledgehammer.
The whole point of “walk it back” versus say “retract” or “back-pedal” is the intent is to slowly and deliberately re-word what was said and alt-fact what that means in such a way that nobody notices what you’re doing. When you’re done, everybody understands what you (claim to) mean now and believes you meant that all along. The true meaning of the original outrageous comment has been flushed down the memory hole.
You can see why this phrase has gained a lot of popularity in the last couple of years in the US.
I remember hearing it in Washington during the Clinton years from both the White House and Congress.
I’m certainly not suggesting the term is new. As you say, it’s at least a couple decades old.
In the Bill Clinton era you could describe it as a sort of “retroactive triangulation.” 
Witness the many folks in this thread thinking it’s a new term, I do say the usage has picked up a bunch in recent months. To the degree one listens to twitter vice to MSM the term may also be disappearing real soon.
See: a large number of SDMB threads where someone says something stupid, then spends 2 days and 50 posts trying to defend it by changing the claim around.
Heh. Those are always a good time. They’ve also spawned a fair few Pittings.
Although in fairness we also have quite a few examples of somebody saying something mildly out thata way and then zealots jump in to insist the poster really meant something waaay much farther out there. The subsequent denials and clarifications, even if legit, always sound real weak.
Which demonstrates something about how sensitized our walking-it-back detectors are these days.