We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Philosophy

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is a Game Plan?

By F. Ruiz
Updated: May 23, 2024
Views: 11,744
References
Share

A “game plan” is a strategy for attaining a goal. This common English idiom comes from American football, in which a coach might prepare a particular strategy for a game, based on the respective strengths and weaknesses of the coach's team and the opposing team. Although this term originated in the field of sports, it has become widely used in everyday speech.

The English language is rife with sports idioms, which are phrases that first applied to sports but grew over time to have wider idiomatic meanings. Although it is difficult to determine exactly when this phrase was coined, it likely can be traced to American football in the early 1940s. As with many idiomatic expressions, it was initially applied in a more literal sense. When football players met with their coaches before a game, they planned their course of action to help them win. Logically, they called this action plan a “game plan.”

Soon after its appearance in sports, the phrase gained broad idiomatic usage. Instead of just being used in reference to winning a game, it could be used in reference to a wide range of goals. The phrase became an idiom because the word “game” within the phrase no longer strictly meant an encounter between rival sports teams but could mean any type of activity that is necessary to achieve a goal.

The expression’s origin in sports leads it to be especially common in competitive endeavors. This phrase is frequently used in business meetings and politics. To open a meeting about a new product launch, a businessperson might ask, “What’s the game plan?” His or her colleagues would then reply with their strategy for a successful product launch.

The term also is used in non-competitive settings, such as in informal everyday speech. For example, a child who helping his or her parent cook dinner might ask, “What’s the game plan?” The parent would then let the child know what to do to make a successful dinner.

In these examples, the overarching goal itself is not explicitly stated. When “game plan” is used, it is very common to express the strategy without directly stating the ultimate goal of the strategy, because the goal usually can be understood automatically. For example, a political campaign manager might say, “Our game plan is to court the union vote.” Most listeners would already know that a campaign manager's main goal would be for his or her candidate to win the election, so it would be unnecessary to state, “Our game plan for winning the election is to court the union vote.”

Share
Language & Humanities is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Link to Sources
Discussion Comments
By pastanaga — On Oct 10, 2014

@Fa5t3r - Well, a game plan could still be helpful, because it's partly created to anticipate moves and responses. If you make a game plan rigid when the environment is dynamic, then it's almost definitely going to fail.

If you make it dynamic then it has a better chance of success. So, if it's a schedule for study, you shouldn't say I will study from 9-10 every evening so much as that you will try to fit in an hour every day whenever you can fit it in.

You should also have realistic expectations, because setting yourself goals that you can't meet, or likely won't meet without burnout is just going to make you feel bad. It's not going to achieve anything.

By Fa5t3r — On Oct 09, 2014

@KoiwiGal - I would call it a game plan when I was trying to achieve something difficult, like passing all my exams or something like that. The problem was that I was never very good at following my game plan and then I would get depressed or frustrated that I was managing to fail before I had even finished.

So now I try to just stay aware of what I'm doing and do my best without planning too far ahead.

By KoiwiGal — On Oct 08, 2014

My father was very fond of making game plans, probably because he spent quite a few years as a basketball coach. Whenever we went somewhere like a theme park or even a mall, he would tell us "the game plan" in case we got separated or wanted to go off on our own.

I remember I thought it was overkill when I was a kid, but I basically still do the same thing these days with my own family. It's good to have the habit of arranging where to meet and when and what to do if there is an emergency.

Share
https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-a-game-plan.htm
Copy this link
Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.