Lean and mean times ahead

Wise Words: lean and mean

Someone who is lean and mean is quite possibly a sex machine, too. When US President Obama referred to two American car-makers as leaner and meaner, however, he wasn’t thinking about turning them into sex machines (although adding some Italian style via a Fiat investment might sex up the car designs a little).

In an interview last Saturday on C-SPAN, Obama spoke about his plans for GM (General Motors, also sarcastically called Government Motors, as the company has now received almost $20 billion in government bail-out money) and Chrysler.

“My hope … is that we will see both GM and Chrysler having emerged from this restructuring process leaner, meaner, more competitive.”

Why lean?

This adjective is generally used to mean that something has nothing that is superfluous. Here’s how you can use it:

• To talk about meat that has no excess fat:
  “The beef was perfect. It was a lean cut of meat.”
  
• To talk about people who are healthy and have no excess body fat:
  “Michelle Obama has a lean body and muscular arms.”
  
• To talk about periods of economic or financial difficulty — when there is no excess money:
  "We can expect 2009 to be a lean year for our company."
• To talk about management or production that is strong, efficient and has no waste or superfluous elements:
  "These measures will make the company leaner."

Obama uses it with the last meaning: strong and efficient.

Why mean?

This adjective also has different meanings. Here’s how you can use it:

• To describe someone who does not want to share things:
  “John is so mean he wouldn’t donate any money for Paula’s present.”
  
• To describe someone who is unkind:
  “Why is Robert so mean to Susan? I heard him shouting at her again.”
  
• To describe something that is aggressive or very skilful:
  “He’s a mean negotiator.”

Obama uses it with the last meaning: aggressive and skilful.

Use “lean and mean” together for more effect. They sound good together — and the meanings go well together.

To achieve his goal, Obama is going to have to be a little meaner with government money. There will be some lean times ahead for the car industry.