business as usual
/ˈbɪz.nɪs ˌæz ˈju.ʒu.əl/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.57 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
phrase
The normal course of an activity, particularly in circumstances that are out of the ordinary.
phrase
The normal execution of standard functional operations within an organisation, particularly in contrast to a project or program which would introduce change (although that change may itself become business as usual).
adj
That is usual, expected, not extraordinary.
Example Sentences
- "The phase^([sic]) “Business as Usual” ran about the world, and the papers abounded in articles in which going on as though there was no war at all was demonstrated to be the truest form of patriotism. […] “Business as usual during Alterations to the Map of Europe” was the advertisement of one cheerful barber, widely quoted. . . ."
- "In other words, it is business as usual on the Korean Peninsula. Perhaps, when the atmosphere cools down, an argument can be made for giving North Korea’s leaders some of the assistance they want, if they are willing to make concessions of their own."
- "This was very well illustrated when Extinction Rebellion protests disrupted traffic in London in April 2019, and Mayor Sadiq Khan insisted that while he shared “the passion about tackling climate change of those protesting”[…] Londoners needed to be able to return to “business as usual”."
- "This vehicle would be likely to cost about $1,500 more at retail than the business as usual vehicle, which achieves 33 mpg."
- "According to the ‘business as usual’ school of modern historians, the millennial preoccupations of Glaber and Wulfstan hold no more significance than the jeremiads of the gullible and doom-laden who agonise in every society - the medieval equivalents of believers in UFOs, the Bermuda Triangle, and the X files."
Etymology
Popularized by British statesman, soldier and writer Winston Churchill in 1914 as motto in World War I.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɪz.nɪs ˌæz ˈju.ʒu.əl/
- British English: /ˈbɪz.nɪs ˌæz ˈjuː.ʒuː.əl/