mission creep
4
7.8
- noun
- /ˈmɪʃən krip/
- In the intervention in Bosnia (as in the 1994 intervention in Haiti), the administration has tried to avoid "mission creep" by putting strict restrictions on the length of military involvement.
- avoid mission creep
- call it mission creep
- mission creep in government
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Watch on YouTubeOne of the ways that spending can grow is when mission creep occurs at government agencies.
- One of the ways that spending can grow is when mission creep occurs at government agencies.
- Every technique serves or can serve through mission creep, or however you want to put it, a whole host of desires and fears.
Examples
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Such "mission creep" threatens to erode civilian control over important areas of state security.
Academic text (1993) -
One of the ways that spending can grow is when mission creep occurs at government agencies.
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But then the mission creep started, and here we are.
Blog text (19) -
You have to change the system every so often to shed what the military calls "mission creep."
Blog text (14) -
By building its own capabilities, DoD risks mission creep and compounds some of State's challenges.
Academic text (2013) -
After all, mission creep by powerful governmental agencies is an everyday reality of modern bureaucratic life.
Academic text (2004) -
Washington's persistent difficulties in Afghanistan are due to the Obama administration's mission creep.
Academic text (2011) -
I'm actually more annoyed at the ongoing mission creep of school lunches and the big business that they've turned into.
Blog text (7) -
Late in 2010, as it became clearer that nation-building was progressing rather poorly, mission creep turned into mission confusion.
Academic text (2011) -
The project became overwhelming due to constant mission creep, leading to a loss of focus on its initial goals.
Synonyms
3
3.5
A change that makes something wider or includes more things
Antonyms
How Expanded
3
3.5
4
7.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'mission' (a task or goal) with 'creep' (slow, spreading movement), so the basic idea of a goal gradually expanding is signalled by the constituents. However, the term is somewhat specialized jargon and the specific negative/organisational sense (loss of focus, added complexity) is a metaphorical extension that a B1 learner may not fully predict without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase mission creep may come from military stories where a mission's goals slowly creep like a quiet animal, moving beyond the original plan. So, it now means 'a slow, unwanted growth of a project's original goals' that often causes more work and extra costs.