Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
raise the flag and see who salutes en · VERB
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(US, idiomatic) To float an idea, (or otherwise do some action) to see what response or controversy it generates, usually as a preliminary step.
Much of the discourse on and the spirit of group interaction have an improvisational flavor: we “float trial balloons” in the groups we belong to or “raise a flag and see who salutes.”
1996, Jo Ann Oravec, Virtual individuals, virtual groups: Human Dimensions of Groupware and Computer Networking, page 312:
Forms
Relateds
test the waters · nail one's colours to the mast