Word Spy - glide path

n. The desired or prescribed path to reach a goal.

Example Citation:

"Though there are many today who say 'I told you so,' in retrospect it is clear that the vision of Oslo as a gentle glide path to peace was mistaken."
—Editorial, "The Taba delusion," The Jerusalem Post, January 29, 2001

Notes:

Today's phrase hails from aviation where it refers to an aircraft's path of descent, which is shown to the pilot by means of a radio beam.

Glide path is on a lot of lips these days because U.S. Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan used the phrase in a recent session before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee:

"The time has come, in my judgment, to consider a budgetary strategy that is consistent with a preemptive smoothing of the glide path to zero federal debt or, more realistically, to a level of federal debt that is an effective irreducible minimum."
—Alan Greenspan, "Alan Greenspan Testifies Before the Senate Budget Committee," FDCH Political Transcripts, January 25, 2001

Related Word:

Greenspeak

Category:

Aviation

Posted on February 1, 2001

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