Unpack, translated

"Unpack" has two everyday jobs: it can mean removing what is packed in a bag or box, and it can mean explaining an idea by examining its parts. Cambridge Dictionary lists both senses 1. Collins Dictionary gives the same useful office-adjacent sense: analysing a question or issue by breaking it into its component parts 2.

In a meeting, "Can we unpack that?" usually means the idea arrived without enough nouns, numbers, or dates to do anything useful. The phrase is polite. The missing detail is doing the heavy lifting. Try naming the work instead: Jordan will send the one-page pricing test plan, with the budget and launch date, by Friday. The suitcase can remain closed.