Sometimes people make offhanded comments that others take very seriously. Person A says something that has a profound influence on our life, and then when we tell Person A the story years later Person A does not remember the incident at all. Person B talks about listening to a band and then that band goes on to become our favorite group. Persons A and B did not take those remarks seriously, but they influenced us a great deal.
This is related to the "ripple effect" but I am wondering whether there is a better term to describe verbal remarks that directly influence us in specific ways. "Ripple effect" also seems to have the connotation of a more indirect influence.
This is different than a person with great authority making an offhanded comment and everybody else taking it super-seriously: for example if Boss C idly muses about a feature in our software product and everybody dropping everything to implement it.
Is there a term or phrase for the phenomenon I am describing here?
