I think staggering is the call here.

I think staggering is the call here.

Can this phrase be used in an attempt to say staggering is a sensible decision in your mind?
I could've sworn I heard some young people say the phrase but I can't find it in any dictionary.

No, the word 'staggering' cannot in any way be interpreted as relating to a course of action or a decision.

jutfrank said:

No, the word 'staggering' cannot in any way be interpreted as relating to a course of action or a decision.

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Maybe I should give some additional context and then you reevaluate; I mean the verb "stagger" and I used it within a discussion where I told the other person that I thought staggering my sentences across multiple messages instead of putting them all into one was a good idea cause they were asking me to make my argument shorter.
_____

putting them all in one

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By the way, I need a phrase to shorten that bit.

Are you saying that this is a sentence you've used?

Your post #1 suggests you were asking about the meaning of something you thought you'd heard. Which is it?

jutfrank said:

Are you saying that this is a sentence you've used?

Your post #1 suggests you were asking about the meaning of something you thought you'd heard. Which is it?

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It's a sentence I used.
I just realized I still haven't been specific enough. "I think ________ is the call here" is the bit I thought meant something is a sensible decision in my mind.
The full convo went like this:

My friend: "You need to figure out a way of shortening that message."
Me: "I think staggering it is the call here."

No. The word "staggering" just doesn't work there.

The message seems pretty short to begin with. Why would you need to shorten it?

What am I missing?

Tarheel said:

The message seems pretty short to begin with. Why would you need to shorten it?

What am I missing?

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I haven't posted the actual message I wanted to split up.

No. The word "staggering" just doesn't work there.

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Why? According to the Cambridge dictionary the verb "stagger" can be used "to arrange for things like holidays, working hours, or payments to happen at different times so that they are easier to manage: Utilities companies will allow customers to stagger payments when they have bills they cannot pay."
And that's what I basically intended to do with my lengthy argument, split it up across multiple messages so that my conversation partner could handle it more easily and wouldn't feel overwhelmed.

ghoul said:

My friend: "You need to figure out a way of shortening that message."
Me: "I think staggering it is the call here."

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'Staggering' is just about OK, but 'is the call' makes no sense to this elderly speaker of BrE. You might say "I think staggering it is the solution/answer here", though I'd be more likey to use 'splitting up, spacing out, breaking up my message' rather than 'staggering'.

ghoul said:

The full convo went like this:

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It's fine to use informal language in the words you are asking about, but please try to use standard English in your questions and comments. The word is conversation in standard English.

ghoul said:

I just realized I still haven't been specific enough. "I think ________ is the call here" is the bit I thought meant something is a sensible decision in my mind.

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Okay, so the word 'staggering' is irrelevant to the question. I see.

Yes, the phrase "I think ________ is the call here" is a good way to say what course of action you think should be taken (unless perhaps you're talking to elderly British speakers (5jj)). But note that there are restrictions on the type of content that can go in the gap.

ghoul said:

The full convo went like this:

My friend: "You need to figure out a way of shortening that message."
Me: "I think staggering it is the call here."

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Yes, now with the crucial addition of the word it (we now know it's a verb and not an adjective), plus the crucial context you've provided, it's clear what you mean. It's fine, yes.

The word "call" can mean "decision", but in that sense, it's often preceded by an adjective, e.g. "a good call", "the right call", "a tough call", etc.
However, I still find the sentence in post #1 unusual (with or without "staggering").

teechar said:

The word "call" can mean "decision", but in that sense, it's often preceded by an adjective, e.g. "a good call", "the right call", "a tough call", etc.
However, I still find the sentence in post #1 unusual (with or without "staggering").

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Yes. Say "the right call" to make it more clear.

jutfrank said:

Yes, now with the crucial addition of the word it (we now know it's a verb and not an adjective), plus the crucial context you've provided, it's clear what you mean. It's fine, yes.

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Would it be fine without "it" as well in the example of my starting post?

teechar said:

However, I still find the sentence in post #1 unusual (with or without "staggering").

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Maybe that's because you're not a "gigazoomer" like me .

ghoul said:

Maybe that's because you're not a "gigazoomer" like me .

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And what would that be?

If I've read the rest of the thread correctly and understood the context, I might say "I think staggering them [my sentences] is a good call/the right call". However, that still might not be clear to all readers so I'd probably say "I think splitting/separating my sentences/argument across several messages is the right call/the way to go".

teechar said:

And what would that be?

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Here's my best guess. A gigabyte is a billion bytes so a gigazoomer would be a huge zoomer, and zoomer is a variant of boomer. Just a guess though.

probus said:

Here's my best guess. A gigabyte is a billion bytes so a gigazoomer would be a huge zoomer, and zoomer is a variant of boomer. Just a guess though.

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The OP put it in quotes so I suspect they made it up. If I had to guess, I'd go for:
1. Someone who spends a lot of time on Zoom (the online meeting platform).
2. Someone who's a member of a site called "Gigazoom" (even though I've never heard of it).
3. Someone who's online a lot and switches around between multiple sites etc (they "zoom around" the internet).

So come on, @ghoul, put us out of our misery. What's a "gigazoomer"?

Edit: I've only just discovered that "zoomer" is the informal term for members of Generation Z (born 1997-2012).

A 'zoomer' is a member of Generation Z. It's a play on '(baby) boomer'. The prefix 'giga' is similar to 'super', in the sense of being 'very much so' (gigachad, etc.).

So ghoul is saying he's very much a member of Gen Z. In other words, he thinks, acts, and speaks like a very young person, unlike the boomers and Gen Xers on this thread!

teechar said:

And what would that be?

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emsr2d2 said:

So come on, @ghoul, put us out of our misery. What's a "gigazoomer"?

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What @jutfrank said.

emsr2d2 said:

If I've read the rest of the thread correctly and understood the context, I might say "I think staggering them [my sentences] is a good call/the right call". However, that still might not be clear to all readers so I'd probably say "I think splitting/separating my sentences/argument across several messages is the right call/the way to go".

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You understood what I wanted to say correctly. Why would "staggering" not be clear to all readers?

ghoul said:

You understood what I wanted to say correctly. Why would "staggering" not be clear to all readers?

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I'll speak for myself. I had no idea that you were using 'staggering' as a verb. I thought it was an adjective. Furthermore, as a verb it's transitive so it needs an object. Like I said before, if you'd said 'staggering them', it would have shown that you were using a verb, and the sense of the sentence would have been a lot clearer.

Even so, the verb 'stagger' doesn't seem to be the right verb to say what you mean.