The darling of avid intergalactic truth seekers, (Google) led me to the definitive Oxford language definition:
Switcheroo/ˌswɪtʃəˈruː /noun/ Informal North American
- A change, reversal, or exchange, especially a surprising or deceptive one.
It begs the question, “Why is there no #2, when there is #1”.?
Perhaps somebody “reconsidered”..?
Regardless, the search for an answer to that question seems redundant when the source includes the word “Oxford” in its title.
I instantly feel a warming, slightly repressive, “Cambridgy” sense of reassurance as the names evoke images in my mind of “ye olde worlde” cloisters, halls of learning, chesterfields and self titled caps (A.K.A “Mortar Boards”)
Innately I trust that centuries-old institutions borne from the culture after which the very language is named, must indeed be the authority on such things.
I believe it’s the same response I had when I first heard the name, “Cambridge Analytica”…
Pardon me. I’ve gone tangential on y’all..
Example A: Messaging switcheroo..
Not all switcheroos end up poorly..
Example B: Role switcheroo..
..and there may be many.
As an interesting aside, according to a website (which shall remain nameless) that appeared near the top of my search results for “The Terminator”, OJ Simpson was originally proposed for the role of “Terminator T-800” and “Arnie” Schwarzenegger for the role of “Kyle Reese”. However, the Terminator role was preferred by Arnie (possibly due to the reduced cognitive load required to manage the 20 spoken lines in the entire film).
James Cameron (Director) didn’t want Arnie in the role. The studio proposed O.J Simpson however, Cameron believed OJ’s nice-guy image would make his casting as a killer targeting a Los Angeles woman something of a stretch..!
Cameron hatched a somewhat rudimentary plan to interview Arnie and “pick a fight” in the hope that Arnie could be deemed unfit for the role but, as history tells us, he did a..
–you guessed it!
After being entertained by Arnie’s talk of how the villain would be played, he returned to the studio and declared that Arnie would, “..make a hell of a Terminator”.
Switcheroos aplenty right there..
They are prolific and pervasive and almost indistinguishable -but for hindsight.
The “unspoken agenda” gremlins beaver away evolving what is to become the retrospective playbook so that we can understand the truth behind many of our perplexing daily interactions and communications -after the fact.
Like my favourite reconstructed, deconstructed, sweetened, double-decaf, skinny soy, latte frappuccino these “U-turns” are carefully and artfully blended with the relentless stream of messaging that saturates our modern personal and professional lifestyles.
Often they’re hidden in plain sight, regularly practiced by the very organisations and people that loudly spruik integrity and demand our trust..
But for now, the time has come to descend from the soapbox, cue some lower-beta binaural beats, reconstruct my favourite deconstructed Ristretto.., pop some matchsticks under my eyelids and curl up on the Chesterfield with a few Hansard transcripts.
I’m sure I’ll find a few switcheroos there…
Have a great weekend.