Word of the Week: deadline

This week's word is a reflection of my mood, and the fact that many of my clients have had me “on hold” the past few weeks. All I can figure is that they don't seem to know what deadline means -- or maybe they don't realize that deadline means the same thing when applied to something they're suppose to send me as when they expect something from me.

Anyway, in light of this, I thought I'd make deadline my word of the week to suggest to Merriam-Webster.com that it update its definition.

Here’s how they (currently) define it:

1: a line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot 2 a: a date or time before which something must be done;b: the time after which copy is not accepted for a particular issue of a publication.

I think they should add this as a third entry: A date or time something is due, or promised, but not delivered by.