Subtractional

When subtracting additional items makes it better than it was, much like addition by subtraction.

He's subtractional so he can leave and no one cares.

by DrARH March 8, 2022

audition and subtraction

What happens when a new movie is being planned --- lots of "hopefuls" go in to try out for various part, but most of them get "taken away" (i.e., rejected) from the pool of possible prospects.

I like watching the "making of" bonus-material in DVDs of famous films... lots of interesting and informative material there. So often, the producers speak about how difficult the process of audition and subtraction was: "There was a lot of really awesome talent that we had to choose from , so it always really hurt us to apologetically tell some of the application that --- while they were indeed very good at what they did --- they just weren't quite what we were looking for in this particular movie.

by QuacksO April 27, 2019

Addition by subtraction

The phenomenon where a group of four or more people will raise their productivity in the event the least productive person is removed.

Me: “Have you seen Sam lately? We are finally making progress on our project & he is nowhere to be found?”
Boss: “Sam got canned yesterday. I walked him out personally. Sam was fired.”
Me: “Okay, yet another example of addition by subtraction”

by WeAreUFC October 10, 2025