Whiplash is a medical term describing a neck injury typically caused by a sudden, forceful back-and-forth movement of the head, similar to the crack of a whip. It most commonly results from rear-end automobile collisions and can affect the muscles, discs, nerves, and tendons in the neck.
The term has gained broader cultural recognition, notably from the 2014 Oscar-winning film "Whiplash," which depicted the intense relationship between a jazz drummer and his demanding instructor. This expanded its understanding beyond the clinical definition to also symbolize situations involving rapid, stressful, or abrupt changes.
Recently, "whiplash" has been frequently used in news headlines as a metaphor to describe volatile and rapidly shifting conditions across various sectors. This figurative usage effectively conveys a sense of being jerked back and forth by unpredictable forces.
Current news reports illustrate this trend, citing "whiplash" in contexts ranging from gyrations in AI stock prices and abrupt changes in mortgage policy to dramatic swings in weather patterns. This widespread metaphorical application highlights the term's utility in describing a common experience of modern life: coping with sudden and repeated reversals.
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