push the envelope
verbUK /ˌpʊʃ ðiː ˈɛnvələʊp/ · US /ˌpʊʃ ði ˈɛnvəˌloʊp/
Etymology
From push (“to continually exert oneself in order to achieve a goal”) + the + envelope (“set of limitations within which a technological system can perform safely and effectively”) (compare flight envelope), referring to the boundary line on a graph of an aircraft’s capabilities, especially those of altitude and speed. The term was popularized by the book The Right Stuff (1979) by the American author and journalist Tom Wolfe (1930–2018) about the pilots engaged in United States postwar research with experimental rocket-powered, high-speed aircraft, and the first Project Mercury astronauts selected for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s human spaceflight program.
Idiomatic To go beyond established limits; to pioneer.
- They pushed the envelope on pricing derivatives.
- Aerial photography was coming into its own, and flying shutterbugs pushed the envelope, striving to outsnap each other.1992, Popular Mechanics, volume 169, number 11, page 18:
3 more examples
- This is basically why I’ve enjoyed the rise of Huckabee and Paul: Not because I agree with them on an issue-by-issue basis, but because they’re willing to push the envelope a bit, and expand the definition of what a conservative can stand for in ways that I think are ultimately healthy for the party.2007 November 29, Ross Douthat, “Pushing the Envelope”, in The Atlantic:
- Marketing to consumers can still be a minefield […] but diaper manufacturers—confident that the embarrassment factor can be overcome—are determined to push the envelope.2013 July 11, Adam Pasick, “In Rapidly Aging Japan, Adult Diaper Sales Are About to Surpass Baby Diapers”, in The Atlantic:
- "You've got to keep pushing the envelope in terms of what else you can do," he says. "It's all about trying - to use that horrible management phrase - to 'sweat the asset'."2024 April 3, Richard Foster, “Training the next generation of engineers”, in RAIL, number 1006, page 51:
- Related terms
- raise the bar, push it