Reader question:
What does "Plan B" mean, as in this headline: "'Do it yourself' is free trade's best 'Plan B'"?
My comments:
"Plan B" refers to an alternative to the original plan – something to fall back upon when the original plan fails. Or to use a business term, it's a "contingency plan", contingency referring to something unpredictable (and undesirable) that may happen in future, causing disruptions to your original plan.
In short, Plan B is your second option. Obviously, Plan B alludes to Plan A, the first option, the ideal course of action to take. However, "Plan A" is not as popular an idiom as Plan B. And that perhaps has something to do with the popularity of a contraceptive pill.
Plan B, you see, is also a trade mark, the name of the popular emergency contraceptive pill which was approved by American Food and Drug Administration as a prescription contraceptive in 1999. Anyone over the age of 18 can buy them over the counter (in other words, easily) in many cities in the United States.
Taken orally, Plan B is "a progestin-only emergency contraceptive designed to prevent pregnancy within 72 hours after a contraceptive accident or unprotected sex" (Medterms.com) – hence the name, and quite an apt name it is too.
Anyways, with the economy veering towards global recession, more and people are talking about Plan Bs, and usually without mentioning Plan As – presumably having long been thrown out the window.
The moral? Don't get too excited about planning ahead, lest you may end up with nothing but a bunch of changed plans.
Or Plan Bs.
Joking aside, here are media examples:
1. General Motors Corp., asking for as much as $18 billion to keep afloat and survive even worse economic storms, painted the direst portrait to date of what could happen if Congress doesn't quickly step in.
"There isn't a Plan B," said Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson. "Absent support, frankly, the company just can't fund its operations." Without help, the company warned, "the company will default in the near term, very likely precipitating a total collapse of the domestic industry and its extensive supply chain, with a ripple effect that will have severe, long-term consequences to the U.S. economy."
2. PREPARATIONS for the 2010 Soccer World Cup are well on schedule and the reported "plan B" is dead, Danny Jordaan, CEO of the local organizing committee, said yesterday.
"You didn't call a funeral, but I know plan B is dead," said Jordaan of reports that the event might be moved to Australia.
3. The economy is not just affecting people who are already out of work; those who are worried their jobs might be in jeopardy also are experiencing sleeplessness, compromised immune systems, irritability and other precursors to depression.
The best advice Brady said is todevise a "Plan B." By figuring out a plan of action, if you are out of work or think you could be, an action plan can help people feel more in control of their lives.
"Many times if people can start to implement what Plan B is, you don't have that gerbil on a spinning wheel situation, because you are moving a little bit into an action stage, even if you don't have to implement it," he said. "Just knowing precisely what it is, allows the mind to slow down enough to enjoy staying in the present."
雅思阅读不能照搬四六级的做题的方法
雅思听力8点5分大量练习是扎实基础的保证
结伴复习有动力二战拿下雅思听力
两个月备考提高2分冲刺雅思阅读7分
雅思阅读8分经验谈自信是成功的必要条件
学员朱子平:20天斩获雅思的听力9分
雅思阅读8分经验分享
三战雅思拿下7.5分的关键的要素:动机和方法
半年就通过雅思7:从六级318到雅思7分的飞跃
学员王一鸣:雅思分项备考技巧的分享
坚持听坚持改雅思听力9分不是问题
笨鸟狂练口语80天一战搞定雅思的口语6.5
学员雅思7分经验分享
牛人25天"白加黑"一战攻下雅思的阅读9分
首战雅思阅读满分的体会机经用处不大
雅思阅读的满分经验:每天听英语广播
雅思听力8分的小感想用小本本勤记录
曼彻斯特大学交换生雅思从6分到8分经验分享
5个月的雅思阅读8.5分经验分享
雅思的7分经验:考场发挥很重要
雅思阅读8分考生的三条经验分享
G类雅思听力9分备考的经验谈
雅思阅读8分经验精读不光是把题目看明白
雅思口语7分的回忆:回味那一年的春天
放开胆子侃大山雅思口语7分不是问题
经验分享的碎碎念:雅思写作二战突破6.5
从不习惯英式发音到拿下雅思听力6点5分
雅思的听力9分经验:听力能力本质的提高
雅思阅读8点5分经验谈累积大于技巧
时隔两年再战G类雅思详细考情的分享
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |