I've seen "Fortune 500", "Fortune 100", and even Fortune's "Global 500". But when someone tries to describe a company as "a Fortune 14 organization," my stupid language meter goes off.
If the company is 14th on the Fortune 500 list, then just say so.
That's the same laziness of writing as when people use precise measures like "50%" when they actually mean "about half."
/ End of cranky rant about usage.
I've heard that the use of "Fortune 5" is perfectly legitimate. :-)
“Stupid language meter”… can I borrow that?
Posted by: Andrea Weckerle | March 23, 2006 at 09:38 PM
Anyone who runs one of the top companies in the U.S. can call themselves whatever they want, and I'm sure they have a large staff of retainers to congratulate them on their erudition.
However, I reserve the right to call them boneheads if they run the eighth biggest company and insist that there's a "Fortune 8" list somewhere.
And yes, Andrea, I grant you unlimited use of the Stupid Language Meter, provided you occasionally refer to me as "the Stupid Language Meter Guy."
Posted by: Eric Eggertson | March 23, 2006 at 10:08 PM
It's the same thing in broadcasting. I've seen stations tout themselves as a "Top-150 Market," which sounds impressive until you figure that there are only 210 TV markets.
Even worse -- one guy on a message board (using a handle) once talked about working in a "Top 5" market. Here was the reply:
"I can only guess that you work in either Philadelphia (4) or San Francisco (5). After all, if you had worked in Chicago, you would have called it a Top-3, in LA a Top-2, and in New York, you would have talked about being in "Market 1."
(Correct answer: San Francisco, Market 5)
Posted by: Ike | March 24, 2006 at 01:27 PM
Andrea, I grant you unlimited use of the Stupid Language Meter, provided you occasionally refer to me as "the Stupid Language Meter Guy."
Can we just cut the middle words out?
Posted by: Ike | March 24, 2006 at 01:29 PM
That might work, Ike, but calling me "The Guy" wouldn't be as funny.
Posted by: Eric Eggertson | March 24, 2006 at 05:08 PM