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Aphorism

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(pronounced af-uh-riz-um)  noun

Definition

1. a concise and profound statement of a principle (often one handed down from classical times).  2. a terse and cogent--and often profound--formulation of a general truth or shrewd observation; adage.

Main Example

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 7.92% during May 2010, the biggest stock market drop during the fifth month of a year since 1940. The sharp decline has given fresh credence to the old aphorism “sell in May and go away.”

Workplace Examples

• On the issue of how best to cut manufacturing costs, my favorite aphorism is “do it right the first time,” which was our motto during my Texas Instruments years in the 1980s. I firmly believe that is the surest way of reducing rework, defects, and customer complaints.
• Have you noticed how often businesses that publicize their belief in “the customer is always right” do not adhere to that aphorism when push comes to shove?

Other Examples

• somebody who has a tendency to speak in dictums, proverbs, and aphorisms; a bad experience strengthening your belief in the aphorism “if something appears too good to be true, it probably is”
• a candidate for public office shrugging off verbal attacks from his rivals by citing the aphorism we all learn in childhood: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
• one of the many simple and unpretentious aphorisms handed down to us by Benjamin Franklin: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
• As the victorious Duke of Wellington surveyed what had been the battlefield at Waterloo just hours earlier, and observed robbers inflicting indignities on the French officers and soldiers who lay dying or grievously wounded, he was moved to utter this anti-war aphorism: “The only thing worse than victory is defeat.”

© 2010 V.J. Singal
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