A diachronic study of the phrase We are in a completely different place today in Danish

This study conducts a diachronic analysis of the Danish phrase vi er et helt andet sted i dag (lit. ‘we are in a completely different place today’), aiming to understand the communication needs driving its prevalent usage. The phrase’s initial appearance in Danish media dates to 1987, but a notable increase in usage is observed from 2010. This surge is linked to Danish organisations, especially banks, utilising the phrase in crisis communication as a “image restoration strategy” (Benoit 1997, 179; Benoit and Pang, 2007, 248). The study questions the phrase’s classification, considering terms like Wortverbindungsmuster (Steyer, 2013), Klischee, Idiomatischer Satz (Stein and Stumpf, 2019), and situational manipulator (Szczygłowska, 2023; Wray, 2002). It also explores its origin as a “phraseological Anglicism” (Fiedler, 2023, 58). Using the Danish corpus Infomedia, the research spans 2000–2022, analysing lexical fixedness, thematic domain, style, discourse practice, and mediality (Dalmas et al., 2015). Special focus is given to the phrase’s use in apology contexts and an associated meta-discourse. The findings indicate that the phrase’s evolution typifies key phraseological processes. Its increasing usage has led to lexical fixation in economic discourse, becoming an integral part of apology rhetoric (Lewicki, Polin and Lount, 2016). Concurrently, its establishment in this domain spawns an ironic meta discourse, reducing it to a cliché.