Friedman unit
- noun
- /ˈfrid.mən ˈjuː.nɪt/
- Literature
- Every year, the manager assures us that the product launch is just one Friedman unit away.
Examples
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Politicians often speak of reforms coming in a Friedman unit, even when no specific date is provided.
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He quipped that peace would come in a Friedman unit, so nobody held their breath.
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Debates about progress were measured in several Friedman units rather than actual dates.
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The government promised a change in policy within a Friedman unit.
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Many projects seem to operate on a Friedman unit timeline.
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The project was delayed yet again, with the new timeline set for completion at the end of a Friedman unit.
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After several missed deadlines, the team decided to measure each promised achievement in Friedman units.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Friedman + unit
The term combines a proper name ('Friedman') with the transparent noun 'unit', but the specific facetious meaning (a recurring, ill-defined promised time period) depends on cultural/political background and cannot be inferred from the literal words. A B1 learner who knows 'unit' and the name 'Friedman' would not predict this jargonistic, named metaphor without prior exposure, so it is opaque.
Etymology
The noun Friedman unit comes from newspaper writer Thomas Friedman, who kept saying 'six more months' would bring progress in long projects or wars, so people joked that each repeat promise was another Friedman unit, a small chunk of time. So today it means a joking way to measure a short, repeated period that is always pushed back.
