(Where the Rubber Meets the Road 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.)

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Everyone knows the rubber meets the road at the bottom of the tire. The tire is mounted on a wheel that’s always spinning when your vehicle is in motion.

We suppose the idea here is that moving your vehicle matters most where the rubber meets the road. That is, it doesn’t matter what the engine does unless it translates into a rotating tire connecting with the street in order to propel your vehicle forward.

Sometimes, this one is uttered as, “When the rubber meets the road” – which, of course, is something completely different.

Where the rubber meets the road is the point at which, in business, things become serious or perhaps finalized – depending entirely on how the annoying manager or executive using this cliché intended it.

That’s a recurring problem with much of the overused jargon in this book: many phrases are so misused that the meaning is not always clear to the intended audience.

And, of course, that’s where the rubber meets the road when it comes to any overused saying relayed by cliché-loving managers.

Replacement phrases: When it matters; Where it’s important; The result

See also: Mission Critical

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