mistakes were made

Definition

A passive-voice euphemism used to acknowledge that errors occurred without clearly assigning responsibility or culpability to any specific person or group.

Example Usage

The CEO released a statement saying 'mistakes were made' in the accounting department, deflecting from his own role in the scandal.

Origin

Popularized in corporate and political contexts, particularly during the Reagan administration's use of the phrase to distance leadership from accountability.

Fun Fact

Linguists call this the 'agentless passive' or 'truncated passive'—it's widely recognized as a rhetorical dodge for avoiding direct blame.

Source: Definition backfill (hailey)

Related Terms

Beginner

expiry

The death date printed on products, contracts, and opportunities, after which they transform from valuable to worthless faster than you can say 'statute of limitations.' In business, it's the deadline that separates the procrastinators from the unemployed. That milk carton date that everyone ignores? That's expiry's less serious cousin.

💼 Corporate / Business

Advanced

transmaterialization

A process of industrial or economic transformation in which materials demand shifts to different or higher-quality materials across different historical cycles, or the conversion of products into services.

💼 Corporate / Business

Intermediate

mushroom management

A leadership style where employees are kept in the dark and fed manure, only to be surprised when expectations suddenly appear. Information hoarding disguised as a management strategy.

💼 Corporate / Business

Intermediate

take

Industry jargon for 'what's your hot take on this?'—a pithy interpretation or perspective that everyone pretends is original. In corporate settings, people collect 'takes' like Pokémon cards, each one more confident and contrarian than the last.

💼 Corporate / Business

Intermediate

eternalhold

The corporate equivalent of ghosting, where a caller is placed on hold with absolutely zero intention of ever returning to help them. It's passive-aggressive customer service at its finest—why hang up when you can let them marinate in elevator music forever? The digital age's answer to 'let me transfer you to someone who cares' (narrator: no one cares).

💼 Corporate / Business

Intermediate

gulf

A metaphorical chasm between what management promises and what actually gets delivered. Also applicable to the widening gap between employee expectations and company reality.

💼 Corporate / Business

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See “mistakes were made” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

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