Nothing about on behalf of Google or spreading information. You say - 'Reaching out to libraries on behalf of Google, for example, is an attempt to help make the information contained within more freely available' - sorry, but I think you misunderstood this one, which was no doubt my fault as I didn't quote the whole thing, which read "please reach out to a Library staff member" it was simply a particular library saying that if users of Google Reader have any problems (with transferring their feeds, as Google Reader is closing down), they should contact a member of staff. In the three examples of the new usage I quoted in my question, the use of 'reach out to' is completely different from all the dictionary examples I've quoted here, meaning simply to contact, get in touch with, phone etc, which we already have perfectly good words and expressions for. I don't see that these are about indirect and empty gestures, and in none of these example does 'reach out' simply mean contact (which is what my question was about). to offer help and support to someone: "She set up her charity to reach out to the thousands of homeless on the streets." to try to communicate with a person or a group of people, usually in order to help or involve them: "The new mayor is reaching out to the local community to involve them in his plans for the city." to ask someone for help: "She urged him to reach out to his family."
to offer help to someone: "We are reaching out to the most vulnerable members of the community." I try to reach out to my daughter but she doesn't want to have anything to do with me (Free Dictionary) Government reaches out to the people (Free Dictionary) Here are some more definitions and examples from online dictionaries:
Perhaps the best way to see it is just to think of it as a metaphorical version of the physical act of reaching out. Perhaps you find it vague because it's quite a difficult concept to put in words, even though I imagine most of us instinctively know what the Four Tops meant when they sang 'Reach out and I'll be there, or what is meant when a radio station says it wants to reach out to younger listeners. So if you ARE implying that "Reaching Out" ALWAYS has to be an indirect and empty gesture, I simply Smunts - Sorry if you think that definition is a bit vague (although I don't, personally), but in that case, your problem is with Oxford Dictionaries, not with me. Compare this to the direct contact between individuals and/or organizations in your other examples and there's a clear difference. A Church reaching out to young people, using your example, is often a mere gesture directed at no specific person or group. Unless, however, it's the "to show." portion of your definition causing your Real hang-up. Even reaching out to an individual by cell phone is acceptable due to the preface of "If you want to follow up", which makes any act of doing so a 'sign of interest' and potentially a 'willingness to help out'. Reaching out to libraries on behalf of Google, for example, is an attempt to help make the information contained within more freely available. "to show somebody that you are interested in them and/or want to help them" That's a pretty vague definition, isn't it? By that, it could be argued that All of your examples are 'correct' uses of this expression. Any comments? Or anyone for Buzzword Bingo? I know I’m just an old fuddy-duddy, and these expressions are harmless, but they do niggle a bit.
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‘If you want to follow up, feel free to reach out to me by phone.’
‘Wired has also reached out to Google for additional comment.’ ‘If you would like any other suggestions or need help with transitioning your current Google Reader RSS feeds, please reach out to a Library’ But increasingly it seems to be being used simply to mean ‘contact’, especially on tech sites, for no good reason that I can see other than trendiness. Reach out to somebody - to show somebody that you are interested in them and/or want to help them - “The church needs to find new ways of reaching out to young people.” But the one that I’m increasingly noticing is ‘reach out’.Īpart from its physical meanings, my dictionary gives this meaning for ‘reach out’: Up to now my least favourite has been ‘going forward’, an expression Lucy Kellaway at the Financial Times campaigned against when it first appeared, but to no avail: everyone uses it now, from Obama to Beckham. A recent survey in Britain found that many office workers felt ‘management-speak’ to be ‘a pointless irritation’. I’m not usually a peever, but I do make an exception for business buzzwords.
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