Push the envelope
Today’s expression is to “push the envelope.” To push the envelope means to get close to the edge of the acceptable behavior in a given situation—or maybe even cross the line. So you know in every situation, there’s a range of acceptable behavior. People who push the envelope like to get right up to the edge of acceptable behavior—and maybe even violate the norms in a situation.
We talked two weeks ago about “taking liberties .” And I said at the time, a wedding speech is a great time to take some liberties with the truth—it’s a time to say good, positive things, and only good and positive things.
When you’re giving a speech at a wedding, there’s a range of acceptable behavior, right? The safest thing is to just say all good, nice, happy things. Also in the range of acceptable behavior, you can tell a couple of jokes. You might be able to do some gentle ribbing—that means, to make some light, good-natured fun of the couple getting married. It’s a wedding, it’s a celebration, so in the universe of acceptable behavior, it would be okay if you had had, say, a couple of drinks before the speech.
All right. We all know people who like the push the envelope. My advice to you is this: don’t let those people near the microphone at your wedding!
What would it be like to push the envelope at a wedding speech? Telling a story that might embarrass one member of the couple—that’s pushing the envelope. Using some vocabulary that maybe the bride or groom would not want their grandparents or their young nieces and nephews to hear—again, pushing the envelope. Having more than just a couple of drinks before taking the stage—pushing the envelope.
These are not grave violations of rules—but they are getting right up to the edge of acceptable behavior, and maybe crossing into the world of unacceptable behavior. This is what it means to push the envelope.
Any teachers out there? If so, you know that in any group of kids, there are always a few who like to push the envelope. Imagine your school has a dress code, and the boys have to wear blue pants. And most people wear dark blue pants that look good. But one boy decides to wear bright, electric blue pants—that’s pushing the envelope. Okay, fine, it’s blue. But that’s not the spirit of the rule. That’s getting right up to the edge of acceptable behavior.
Imagine there’s a rule that you can’t have candy in class. But one girl decides to bring cough drops every day—pushing the envelope. A cough drop is medicine, kind of? It might not technically be candy, but it’s a close substitute.
A boy asks to be excused so he can go use the restroom, and he comes back twelve minutes later—pushing the envelope. Who’s to say—well, whatever. Twelve minutes—it’s pushing the envelope. It’s getting right up to the edge of acceptable behavior, testing the limits, seeing what they can get away with. That’s pushing the envelope.
So New York’s new pay transparency law requires employers to publish a range of salaries for every position. And I asked you to imagine a job posting with a published range of $100,000 to $130,000 per year. So most people will look at that and think, okay, the range is $100 to $130. So I’ll try to position myself at the best possible place in that range.
But then, I said, and this is true, based on over 15 years in business, and over 40 years of experience in life in general, I said that some people are going to try to push the envelope. They are! Some people are going to look at that range and say, okay, the highest end of the range is $130, so let’s start there, and then I also want you to give me a guaranteed bonus of $25,000.
Is that illegal, for the jobseeker to say that? No. Is that amoral? Also….no. No? But that is pushing the envelope. The range is supposed to be the range. A “guaranteed bonus” is a higher salary by another name. So a jobseeker asking for the top of the range and a guaranteed bonus is really asking the employer to extend the range higher than what’s published. And that’s pushing the envelope.
And now I hope you can see why I don’t think pay transparency laws will close the pay gap between men and women. Maybe it will help; I don’t know. But it’s not going to magically solve the problem. A large part of the gap in pay is because men ask for more than women ask for . You know I don’t like to make sweeping generalizations, but this one is fair. Boys—and as they grow up into men—are more likely to push the envelope than girls are and that applies to the workforce. You know deep down this is true. And so I do believe that in New York, some people are going to push the envelope and get around pay transparency laws. There will be men and (yes) there will be women in that group, but I have a strong feeling that the people who push the envelope and get higher pay will skew male.
Quote of the Week
Here’s a quick quote of the week, since we’re already going a bit long today. It’s by George Bernard Shaw, a playwright. He said, “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”
Boy is that correct. It’s more dangerous to be wrong about something than to not know about it in the first place . “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance,” says George Bernard Shaw.
See you next time!
We’re going to have to do a live call about pay transparency. This lesson comes out December 5, so one of our live conversation calls for Plus+ members will be about pay transparency. And I think it would be fun to look at some job listings in New York and guess the pay range. We’ll do a little compare and contrast with job listings in New York—we’ll see who makes a lot, who makes a little, and whether we think the published ranges are fair. That’ll be fun. So if you’re a Plus+ member, keep an eye on your dashboard for that.
If you’re not yet a Plus+ member—you’re missing out. This is a great opportunity to get on a Zoom call with me, with JR, and with fellow Plain English listeners to practice talking about some of your favorite Plain English topics.
If you’re not yet a Plus+ member, go to PlainEnglish.com/Plus to sign up. It just takes a couple of minutes. Sign up, and you’ll immediately be taken to a new home page on Plain English, and that home page will include the schedule of upcoming calls. Check it out PlainEnglish.com/Plus. We’ll be back on Thursday with a new lesson—see you then.
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