Timeline for Meaning of "have an agenda"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 2017 at 22:03 | comment | added | GBorreson | An individual having an agenda indicates a preconceived desire for a specific outcome. In this usage, the negative connotation comes from the perception of bias and therefore a lack of trust in the individual's decision-making pertaining to the issue at hand. | |
| Jun 26, 2011 at 16:09 | comment | added | jackgill | It's not about intonation in this case, it's about context. To "have an agenda" is a negative thing. The word "agenda" by itself has no positive or negative connotations. | |
| Jun 1, 2011 at 5:53 | vote | accept | language hacker | ||
| Jun 1, 2011 at 5:52 | vote | accept | language hacker | ||
| Jun 1, 2011 at 5:52 | |||||
| May 8, 2011 at 10:55 | comment | added | Neil Coffey | To me, "He has an agenda" seems to intrinsically have more of a negative connotation than "He has a plan" or "He has an idea" or "He has a direction" etc, just as "He has a vision" seems to have an intrinsically positive connotation. I'm not convinced it's JUST about the intonation of a construction that could be filled with any word and have equal connotations. | |
| May 7, 2011 at 10:45 | comment | added | nico | I agree with @Mr. Disappointment. For instance you can speak of the political agenda of a party meaning the list of policies to be pursued or political issues to be addressed (source: OED). Of course hidden agenda has mostly a negative meaning but, again, one's agenda may be hidden but not necessarily evil. | |
| May 7, 2011 at 10:26 | comment | added | Grant Thomas | I disagree that the word itself causes this to come across negatively; like many other words or phrases, it depends on the context and is projected by intonation; for example, 'thanks a bunch!' either being sarcastic or sincere doesn't depend on the words used. | |
| May 7, 2011 at 9:58 | history | answered | Neil Coffey | CC BY-SA 3.0 |