(Line in the Sand is an annoying business term and is just one of the 212 Most Annoying Business Phrases Managers Effuse, Confuse, and Overuse detailed in the hilarious must-have guide for every workplace: The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room. Available right now on Amazon.)

Line in the Sand

When your annoying manager threatens to draw a line in the sand, he acts as if he’s going to build the Great Wall of China, doesn’t he?

It’s a hollow threat, of course. It always is.

He’s becoming a bit of a blowhard; so, dipping into the bag of worn-out, useless sayings has become his favorite pastime.

While clichés and other tired phrases are annoying on the surface, hollow threats are especially maddening because we know they’re hollow. Everyone knows they’re hollow. Everyone, that is, except your annoying boss.

Line in the sand is so often uttered as merely hubris with nothing to ever back it up that we cannot help but smile when we hear it. Those who draw a line in the sand get their lines crossed; they get their lines trampled; heck, they get their lines blown away by a cool breeze.

There is likely no other phrase meant to make someone sound tough that makes them sound weaker than line in the sand. If you’re still using line in the sand to express how tough you are, please stop; you’re making some of us laugh so hard our sides are starting to hurt.

Replacement phrases: Non-negotiable

See also: Stake in the Ground

…

The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room is available on Amazon