Heads up?

Reader question:

Please explain “heads up” in the following”: “Thank you for the heads up on this upcoming television series. I’m going to watch it.”

My comments:

There’s a new television series coming up and you’ve notified a friend of its broadcasting schedule. He thanks you for alerting him on it, a series he/she would like to watch.

“Heads up” literally means “raise your head up and watch out” (for danger). If you watch Discovery Channel documentaries on wildlife and happen to have seen mongooses forage for food, you might have a good idea of what “heads-up” means. As mongooses look for food, one of them always serves as a watchman for predators lurking somewhere near. Mongooses are rabbit-like creatures, only leaner and able to stand on their hind legs. On their hind legs and with their heads straight up, they’re standing tall, enabling them to look farther afield. With their head abruptly turning left and right, the mongoose sentinel makes a cute picture to observe.

You’ve got to watch Discovery Channel or BBC documentaries on wildlife to observe this of course because nobody in the city has the luxury any more of enjoying the company of animals.

But that’s neither here nor there. Insofar as learning about this phrase, you can learn it from observing fellow humans as well. If for instance you are drawing graffiti on the margins of your textbook instead of listening to the teacher in the classroom and the teacher walks your way, the classmate sitting next to you might whisper this in your ear: “Heads up! Teacher’s coming.”

To sum up again, “heads up” is a warning or alert on something you don’t know of, and an alert given in advance. Remember these elements and you’ll be able to put “heads up” into correct use. HEADS up, always plural – making sure it’s the metaphorical instead of the literal meaning that you’re supposed to take.

Here are two examples from the World Wide Web:

1. Thanks to the fantastic ‘No country for young women’ for giving us the heads up on new gender research from the the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The new report shows that across the OECD nations, “many gender gaps still need to be addressed. On average, the proportion of women in paid work is high (62%). However, women in OECD countries earn 18% less than men, only about one-third of managerial posts are held by a woman, many more women work in part-time jobs than men (25% and 6% respectively).

“These gender differences are even wider with the presence of children since women are more likely to adjust their employment practices upon the arrival of a child much more than men.”

- Women’s views on news, April 07, 2010, Alisonclarke.typepad.com.

2. Imagine you’re talking about someone when he walks in behind you. You’d appreciate it if your colleague gave you the heads-up, wouldn’t you? A simple “Hey John” would be enough to stop you talking. Giving someone the heads-up seems to be a positive thing, doesn’t it?

Not always. The Obama administration has been criticized for giving a journalist the heads-up before last week’s news conference. Huffington Post blogger Nico Pitney has been covering the situation in Iran. Apparently, President Obama had noticed — or had been notified of — Pitney’s blog coverage and had heard that Pitney was in contact with Iranians. The White House told Pitney that he might be called on to ask a question during the news conference. He was given the heads-up so he could prepare a question in advance.

When Obama called on Pitney to ask a question, it was clear from his words that he knew Pitney would focus on the topic of Iran. He asked:

“Nico, I know that you and all across the internet, we’ve been seeing a lot of reports coming directly out of Iran, I know that there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet. Do you have a question?”

- A quick heads-up, Business-spotlight.de, June 30, 2009.