What does “in the weeds” mean to you? I’ve been asking people that for a couple of years now—it’s become a sort of hobby. There’s two definitions, and you can often tell a lot by which one a person knows. First, there’s what I call the academic definition: “To be bogged down in the minute or unimportant details of a large project.” I heard this a lot in the ten years I spent working in newspapers. Then there’s the waitress definition: “To be harried or frantic because there’s more work on your plate than you can do at a reasonable pace.” A key part of this definition is a feeling of
...more
