Not yet used, explored, or developed; having potential that hasn't been realized yet.
From the prefix 'un-' (not) plus 'tapped' (from Old Norse 'tapa,' meaning to strike or tap). Originally meant literally not having been tapped or struck.
The phrase 'untapped potential' became wildly popular in business and self-help after World War II, but it really blew up in the 1960s-70s when companies started viewing people as human resources with 'untapped' productivity waiting to be extracted.
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