Plural of deadwood; dead or useless branches, parts of trees, or metaphorically, useless people or elements in an organization.
From 'dead' plus 'wood.' 'Deadwood' emerged as a forestry and woodworking term for branches or timber that had died, later becoming metaphorical for anything unwanted or useless.
The shift from literal dead branches to metaphorical 'deadwood in the organization' shows how vivid nature metaphors colonize business language—executives still prune deadwood from their teams like loggers did their forests.
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