😂 Now that's a coincidence! I was talking about such a phrase only this
morning with my wife over breakfast!

The phrase was "knock-on effect". That is, a side effect that reinforces
the thing I intended to do. Although, as my wife pointed out, it isn't
quite the same thing as a side-effect, because you can plan a knock-on
effect, but you can't plan a side-effect. The phrase comes from rugby,
where it earns a penalty, and if I'm not mistaken, it may even come up
in Pride and Prejudice, when Mrs. Bennett gives advice on how to
advertise daughters for marriage.

Two phrases in German:

"Teufelskreis" (Devil's circle) means "vicious circle"

"immer mehr/größer/schöner" means "more and more", "bigger and bigger"
or "more and more beautiful". These phrases don't automatically imply
feedback, but I would say the idea is at least lurking in the back of
one's mind when one uses them.

Best wishes,

Niall Palfreyman.

Am 14/07/2023 um 20:14 schrieb Kim A. Kastens:
> Dear colleagues,
>
> My psychologist collaborator and I are writing about idioms and phrases that journalists and other writers/speakers sometimes use to describe systems that are underlain by feedback loops, but without using the actual term “feedback loop.”
>
> In English, some examples would be:
> * vicious cycle
> * virtuous cycle
> * doom loop
> * more and more and more   / worse and worse and worse
> * chicken and egg situation
> * stuck in a rut
> * cutting down the tall poppies
>
> More about English-language instances are in our article on “Linguistic clues for spotting feedback loops in the wild” by Kim Kastens & Tim Shipley, in the Creative Learning Exchange Newsletter at: http://static.clexchange.org/ftp/documents/x-curricular/CC2021_LinguisticClues.pdf
>
> Are any of you familiar with phrases or idioms in other languages that convey the idea of a feedback loop system?  If so, I’d love to hear whatever you might be able to share about the phrase, its literal translation, and how it tends to be used.
>
> Thank you for considering this request.
>
> Kim
> ——————
> Dr. Kim A. Kastens
> Special Research Scientist
> Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
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--
Niall Palfreyman Dean of Learning and Teaching Weihenstephan-Triesdorf
University of Applied Sciences