Out on a limb?

Reader question:

Please explain this passage, “out on a limb” in particular:

No sitting Democratic senator has ever lost in New York State. And so I wouldn’t want to be out on a limb predicting it. I’m just saying that there’s a scenario where it could unfold.

My comments:

“I” think the current Democratic senator in New York State may lose his seat. But it’s just a hunch. “I” am not going to make a prediction as it would be too risky to make such a prediction. After all, no sitting Democratic senator has ever lost before. It may happen this time, but “I” am not saying it will happen.

In other words, to make a definite prediction would be like dangling oneself out on a limb – that would be too risky.

“Out on a limb” is a typical American idiom, and a great one. The limb, as you may have guessed out by now, is the far out branch of a tree. Why would anyone go up there? Well, because there’s still a hanging fruit there. This idiom, no doubt, was derived from observing fruit gatherers at work. Gathering apples for instance, you go first for the low-hanging fruit, which is an idiom in its own right meaning the ones that are hanging low and therefore within easy reach. When the low-hanging fruits are all plucked, you move further up and out on the outstretching branches (limbs). The far-reaching branches are, as you can imagine, long and thin and therefore are easy to break as you climb closer to the fruit.

To go out on such a limb portends, therefore, great danger.

Hence the meaning of the idiom: to go out on a limb is to take an extraordinary risk.

Will Rogers, the famous American actor of the silent movie era, actually said this: “Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is.”

That means Rogers was a willing risk taker. Just as Willie Sutton was a willing risk taker. Sutton was the American serial bank robber who was quoted as saying in court that he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” He was misquoted, actually, as he later said he never said that.

Anyways, willing or unwitting, it’s safe to remember that to “go out on limb” is to assume an obvious, dangerous risk. And since the far out branch is isolated, stood out and alone, the phrase also suggests that he who goes out on a limb is also isolated, alone, singular in his opinion. In other words, few people share his point of view.

Without further ado, here are media examples:

1. Rick Perry went out on a limb Thursday by refusing to back off his support as Texas governor for granting in-state tuition to some of the children of illegal immigrants, and painting critics of the law as heartless — remarks that landed him in the cross hairs of his GOP rivals.

The three-term Texas governor said he still supports the program “greatly” and that the Lone Star State needs “to be educating these children because otherwise they’ll “become a drag on society.”

“If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they’ve been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart,” Mr. Perry said.

- Perry’s support of tuition for children of illegals puts him in GOP cross hairs, WashingtonTimes.com, September 23, 2011.

2. On Tuesday, White Sox general manager Ken Williams stood by his comments -- made during a Monday interview with Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- that the possibility of Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols earning $30 million per season would be bad for baseball.

“All I’m interested in is the game,” said Williams, sitting in his golf cart following White Sox workouts at Camelback Ranch. “We’re just caretakers of this game, all of us: you guys, me, the players. We’re caretakers of this game to the next generation. And then the next generation after that.”

Williams, who made clear that his comments were not in any way a shot at Pujols, went on to note past examples of small-market success stories such as the A’s and Reds of the 1970s, the Pirates of the late ’70s and the Royals in the ’80s to support his argument.

“These are all what? They are all small-market teams,” Williams said. “Teams that, at that time, had a fighting chance or greater than a fighting chance because of their expertise, because of their intellect -- how they put together teams.

“These are cities and these are teams that are responsible for the great popularity, to a large degree, that we now enjoy in the game. Well, these people, these cities and the people in these cities, baseball fans, should not be left out in the cold. That’s all I’m saying.

“It’s important that the people and the cities that I just mentioned and many more have just as much chance to hope and dream about their team winning a World Series as anybody else,” Williams said. “Right now, that’s not happening.”

This concern comes at an interesting time for Williams, whose White Sox enter 2011 with a franchise-record $125 million payroll. Although Williams is comfortable with the team assembled, he’s not comfortable with that lofty total of money spent.

“We’re out on a limb, but that’s our choice,” Williams said. “We made the choice in an effort to give our fans hope and give ourselves a chance to compete for a championship.

“If things don’t fall our way, if we don’t get the support, we’ll lose money. We’re going to lose money, but we’ve gone into this knowing how long can you do that, how much can you absorb? Well, I don't have the answers to those questions just yet. We made this decision, but it’s a risky proposition.”

- GM Williams stands by Pujols comments, MLB.com, February 22.

3. Some final thoughts on PR

1. Be authentic – Nobody likes being spun. Nobody likes talking to a robotron who spews out corporate BS again & again like a politician on a Sunday morning talk show avoiding the questions. Talk like a human. Give real answers. Show a sense of humor and humility. I notice, for example, that some CEO’s on Twitter never do anything but parrot their companies’ news. I find this so inauthentic. And then others will send out company info but occasionally show a human side. Always more appealing. That’s why keeping a personal blog is so great.

2. Have a point-of-view – Too many senior executives are risk averse when it comes to talking with the press so they tend to either be milquetoast in their responses or sit on the fence. That’s fine if you’re a senior exec at Apple – you’ll get inches anyways. But for you as a startup you need to have a point-of-view on topics. You need to be wiling to take risks and be out-on-a-limb with your views. I’m not talking about being aggressive against companies, disparaging people or saying inappropriate things to get covered. I see too many people who do that. But be willing to have an informed view about – GroupOn, Google doing social networking, whether apps is a better metaphor than browsers, whether Quora is really a transformational product – whatever! In doesn’t have to be these cliched topics – you just have to have & express opinions.

- How to Use PR Firms at Startups, AONetwork.com, February 1, 2011.

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.