Cliche of the Week 58 – Learning Curve

Learning curves are rarely gentle, life-long conquests of knowledge mountains.

The mainstream media reports short and steep curves mostly in the sporting world and mainly in the US where American footballers apparently have a lot to learn.

"Learning curve" has consistently appeared in reportage up to 1600 times a month.

"All of the rookies had a large learning curve coming into training camp, but the rookie-free agents didn't even know what kind of playing style they would be needed for when the NFL lockout finally ended." (The Arizona Republic, August 8 )

"While he admits it has been a steep learning curve, (drinks company executive Alan) Herrod believes it (Australia) will prove to be a very lucrative market for his company which currently exports 20 per cent of its output." (Scottish Business Insider, August 8 )

"(Claudia) Schiffer said she was on a steep learning curve and admitted she still had much to learn as a designer." Reuters News, July 7)

"All nine teams were on a steep learning curve in Saturday's light winds that would have left traditional monohulls stalled in the water." (Plymouth Herald, August 8 )

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays.

 Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008