Bang for the buck
Bang for the buck is an idiom meaning the worth of one's money or exertion. The phrase originated from the slang usage of the words "bang" which means "excitement" and "buck" which means "money".[1] Variations of the term include more bang for the buck and bigger bang for the buck. "More bang for the buck" was preceded by "more bounce for the ounce", an advertising slogan used in 1950 to market the carbonated soft drink Pepsi. a The phrase "bigger bang for the buck" was notably used by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Secretary of Defense, Charles Erwin Wilson, in 1954. He used it to describe the New Look policy of depending on nuclear weapons, rather than a large regular army, to keep the Soviet Union in check. Today, the phrase is used to mean a greater worth for the money used.
History and usage
[Bang for the (or one's) buck], which means 'value for one's money', was originally a political one. Its first use was quite literal: With bang referring to 'firepower' or 'weaponry', it really did mean 'bombs for one's money'. The alliteration of bang and buck helps to make the phrase memorable.
William Safire discussed "bang for the buck" in his 1968 book, New Language of Politics. Safire stated that U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson used the phrase in 1954 to summarize the New Look policy.[2][3] The New Look, a 1950s national security policy during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was called "more bang for the buck"[4] and "bigger bang for the buck".[5] "More bang for the buck" was also used in the late 1960s by the U.S. military to refer to how it wanted to receive more combat power from the armory it possessed.[6] The United States, instead of supporting a large regular army, increasingly depended on nuclear weapons to hold the Soviet Union in check.[7]
"Bigger bang for the buck" "echoe[d]" the phrase "more bounce for the ounce", an advertising catchphrase used in 1950 by the company PepsiCo to market its soft drink product Pepsi.[8][9]
The phrase is used today to mean "a better value for the money spent".[10]
Criticism
In 2001, author Matthew L. Stone wrote that the phrase "bang for the buck" "has been overused almost to the point of becoming meaningless".[11] In her 2010 book The Trouble with Thinking, Lauren Powers wrote that whenever she hears the cliché "bigger bang for the buck", she becomes "distracted" by the phrase's history and cannot continue paying attention to the speaker's words.[10]
References
- Notes
- ^ Heacock 2003, p. 19
- ^ a b "The Mavens' Word of the Day: bang for the buck". Random House. 1997-12-19. Archived from the original on 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ Mayer 2010, p. xxiv
- ^ Pavelec 2009, p. 325
- ^ Safire 2008, p. 51
- ^ Feldman 1989, p. 199
- ^ Kort 2001, p. 39
- ^ Ammer 2006, p. 34
- ^ "Case Study – Pepsico: Cola gets a pep talk". LexisNexis. 2007-04-16. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- ^ a b Powers 2010, p. 135
- ^ Stone 2001, p. 54
- Bibliography
- Ammer, Christine (2006). The Facts on File dictionary of Clichés. New York: Infobase Publishing. ISBN 081606279X.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Feldman, Jonathan (1989). Universities in the Business of Repression: The Academic-Military-Industrial Complex and Central America. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0896083543.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Heacock, Paul (2003). Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052153271X.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Kort, Michael (2001). The Columbia Guide to the Cold War. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231107730.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Mayer, Michael S. (2010). The Eisenhower Years. New York: Infobase Publishing. ISBN 0816053871.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Pavelec, Sterling Michael (2009). The Military-Industrial Complex and American Society. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1598841874.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Powers, Lauren (2010). The Trouble with Thinking. Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse. ISBN 1936236281.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Safire, William (2008). Safire's Political Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195343344.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Stone, Matthew L. (2001). Modern Sports & GT Cars Under $20k. St. Paul, Minnesota: MotorBooks International. ISBN 0760308993.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)