OK, I know nobody asked for any more, but that's never stopped me before  . All genuine, I promise.


The fruits of their labours have finally come home to roost.

We are really only floundering in the foothills at the moment.

There is a possible red herring looming on the horizon.

He is just pouncing at any straw he can see.

They’re reinventing the wheel as far as gateways are concerned.

On BSE, I think the Minister will just want the bull points.

I think we have been round this wheel before.

As always, the starting point must be bottom up contact between scientists at the grass roots level.

There would be real and immediate benefits in getting the captains of industry to rub shoulders with the country's scientific cream.

He is galloping down several avenues at once which suggests to me it is some sort of fishing expedition.

We must make sure there is a suitable peg to hang this on in case someone removes the fig leaf.

Whistle-blowing is just not acceptable until you have exhausted all attempts at internal ventilation. 

By trying to have his cake and eat it he has ended up between a rock and a hard place.

A lot of people here are flying by the skin of their teeth.

...and how come EVERY business that provides a service doesn't provide a service any more; they 'offer solutions'?
 

I like these.

The following list of phrases and their definitions might help you understand the mysterious language of science and medicine. These special phrases are also applicable to anyone reading a PhD dissertation or academic  paper:

"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN"...
I didn't look up the original reference.

"A DEFINITE TREND IS EVIDENT"...
These data are practically meaningless.

"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN  POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS"...
An  unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.

"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY"...
The other results didn't make any sense.

"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"...
This is the prettiest graph.

"IN MY EXPERIENCE"...
Once

"IN CASE AFTER CASE"...
Twice

"IN A SERIES OF CASES"...
Thrice

"IT  IS BELIEVED THAT"...
I think.

"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED  THAT"...
A couple of others think so, too.

"CORRECT  WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE"...
Wrong.

"ACCORDING TO  STATISTICAL ANALYSIS"...
Rumor has it.

"A  STATISTICALLY-ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS"...
A wild guess.

"A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE  DATA"...
Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked  over a glass of lager.

"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE  REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS"...
I don't understand it.

"AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY  COLLEAGUES"...
They don't understand it either.

"THANKS  ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO CINDY ADAMS FOR  VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS"...
Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Adams  explained to me what it meant.

"A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY  STUDY"...
A totally useless topic selected by my  committee.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER  INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD"...
I  quit.

 

Tommo, my favourite is "Correct within an order of magnitude". 

George and Milly,

Absolutely priceless! I have tittered muchly on reading them  Wish I had a printer .

Milly,

I think I`m doing something wrong. I`m highligting your text and R clicking Select all, which is precisely what it does. It saves everyone else`s posts as well! I`m being dim. Again. Sigh.l

George, That reminds me of when I opened a draft of a dissertation with the sentence: "The music of X has received little musicological attention, still less serious interpretation."

That got dropped pretty quickly after my supervisor pointed out it might not be wise to alienate myself from the few other scholars who were interested in my subject at all.