Ocean in View

The metaphor ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ is routinely employed to indicate that some project is near completion. It suggests a highly constrained, linear progression to an inevitable conclusion. I much prefer the imagery invoked by William Clark’s ‘Ocean in View!’ which suggests a far less linear progression through an unmapped space to any number of outcomes all with the same general vista.

[read on at the Language Log]

Comments

[Jim Stojak]

I was also under the impression it meant near completion! I like the saying 'Ocean in View'. Interesting!

[Andrew Dai]

How about 'Land in Sight'? Maybe that's more appropriate when the project is more exploratory with a conclusion that's far from inevitable. Kind of like grad school.