Out Of Pocket
Don D
9,834 Posts
Someone asked me this morning what I meant when I said, "I'll be out of pocket for awhile". Do any of you actually not know what that means? On the other hand, where do you reckon that saying came from?
Comments
Did you know that today is a historical day for your great state? The year was 1817, don't know the place, but the event was joining the US as a state. Congratulations on 187 years of statehood.
But, for you, Don, I, too, thought it had something to do with some form of playing pool.
Anyway, in any usage I've ever heard, it basically means unavailable. It's especially useful because it requires no detailed explanation as to where you'll be and why you'll be there. I'm out of pocket means, "I'm outta here and don't be a-lookin' for me."
"Our health plan needs to have a national network for the out-of-pocket sales reps in Ohio and Washington"
As to the origin, I have no idea. I will take a creative and humorous stab in the dark and say that it originated in the south when your buddy asked you if he'd "see you tonight at the watering hole" and you replied "no, I'll be out of pocket tonight at a church function". Meaning that your drinking that night would be out of a flask hidden in your pocket.
OK, I guess I better keep my day job and leave the comedy to others.
Gene
Subject: Out of Pocket, Redux
Dear Brother Grady,
For no apparent reason, my brain suddenly surfaced. Amidst the general shock, I remembered the origin of the term, "out of pocket," to refer to a person who is vacationing or otherwise incommunicado. Earlier, someone on the Philalethes Society list used to term when explaining an absence from the list, and another list member asked for a definition of the term.
I was there, more or less, when the term was coined. Here is what happened:
First, we begin with corporate and military travellers, who must use a term for a type of travel expenses. The idea of travel is important and appears later as a source of confusion. "Out of pocket" originally referred only to "out-of-pocket expenses." As all will remember, these are expenses that are paid with cash or personal credit, rather than charged to an employer's account, and with hopes of reimbursment by an employer. Example: "These are my actual, out-of-pocket expenses as opposed to my per diem and travel allowance."
Next, the term "out of the loop" came into general corporate and military use in the late 1960s and early 1970s to refer to a person who is uninformed either purposefully or accidentally. Example: "Let's keep him out of the loop on this plan so that he won't be able to tell his boss about our new project." And "Why the h--- was I left out of the loop on this?!!!!" "In the loop" meant being included in planning an activity; and "out of the loop" meant the opposite.
"Out of the loop" began to be used to mean anyone who is uninformed and often by a person about himself to explain ignorance. Example: "I have been out of the loop for the past two weeks because I have been on vacation." From here, "out of the loop" began to mean out of town or on vacation.
Here is where things get tricky. Anyone who has been in the government or military knows that leaders at all levels tend to misspeak themselves, often with disasterous results. But also these mistakes can be merely ignorant or foolish. Also, when the mistake is made by someone in high office, it tends to be perpetuated. Example: President Warren G. Harding, with his usual willful ignorance, referred to the post-WWI US as returning to "normalcy" rather than normality.
About 1975, the term "out-of-pocket" began to be used to mean "out of the loop" by ignorant US Army officers who wanted to appear that they understood and used the corporate jargon term, "out of the loop." They latched onto this term so as not to embarrass their superiors who had also misused the term and the misuse spread like
Brad Forrister
VP/Content
M. Lee Smith Publishers
And, yes, I know what pocket pool is but would never talk about it in polite company, unlike some posters who love pushing envelopes, straddling fences and toeing lines.
And Sam may know nothing about a ball being IN the pocket in the first place since she has never learned the fine art of proper shootin', probably. x:-)
We've all been out of line, out of the loop, out of pocket and out of time. A few of us are commonly out to lunch.
I really don't know how long the table is. I just know I can run it.
I'll be outa pocket typically means "I'll be out for awhile, don't bother asking where, leave me alone, you don't need to know where I'm going and, no, you can't tell anybody where I am 'cause I'm not telling even you."
An example might be two people skipping out of a seminar, heading up to room 206, whispering to the girl at the registration table, "We'll be out of pocket for awhile." x:-)
Gene
Disclaimer: The preceding was a joke. I have never been involved in any extramarital hijinks.
I will quote the infamous words of you-know-who "I did not have sexual relations with that woman".