Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/english-language-idioms

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Sea change (idiom)

English idiomatic expression

English idiomatic expression

Sea change or sea-change is an English idiomatic expression that denotes a substantial change in perspective, especially one that affects a group or society at large, on a particular issue. It is similar in usage and meaning to a paradigm shift, and may be viewed as a change to a society or community's zeitgeist, with regard to a specific issue. The phrase evolved from an older and more literal usage when the term referred to an actual "change wrought by the sea", a definition now remaining in very limited usage.

History

The term appears in William Shakespeare's The Tempest in the song Full Fathom Five sung by a supernatural spirit, Ariel, to Ferdinand, a prince of Naples, after Ferdinand's father's apparent death by drowning. The term sea change is used to mean a metamorphosis or alteration.

Usage

A literary character may transform over time into a better person after undergoing various trials or tragedies (e.g. "There is a sea change in Scrooge's personality towards the end of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.") As with the term Potemkin village, sea change has also been used in business culture. In the United States, it is often used as a corporate or institutional buzzword. In this context, it need not refer to a substantial or significant transformation.

References

References

  1. [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/174071?rskey=y7Io3L&result=1&isAdvanced=false Sea-change] OED Online, December 2013.
  2. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-OHAoBh7ZB8C&pg=PA132 The Absent Shakespeare – Mark Jay Mirsky]. p. 132.
  3. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ofqn2obWlTYC&pg=PA61 Complexity, Organizations and Change - Elizabeth McMillan]. pp. 61–62.
  4. [https://www.aol.com/article/2010/12/09/buzzword-of-the-week-sea-change/19738670/ Buzzword of the Week: Sea Change] {{Webarchive. link. (17 February 2017 . ''Daily Finance'', December 9, 2010)
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

english-language-idioms the-tempest
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Sea change (idiom) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report