Conversation with an English teacher

[GrumbleDook]

When jargon is used internally between fellow manglement speakers it can cut down conversations to a fraction of the time since you don't have to explain certain key phrases because we all know the latest bit of Govt target and the phrases *that* uses.

 

The problem comes when manglement speakers try to interface with those who have opted for a career of leading from the middle or those that provide support and impetus to achieving the end targets (heard last month!)

 

Good managers will chose how they speak, will help translate when needed and also teach people the key phrases so the jargon is no longer jargon, just a few words used to describe something in a different manner.

 

The Jargon will always be based on the present trends, the same way that slang is. Sometimes I wish the manglement speak was formally codified and we could seriously tie down the meaning. Personally I hate the use of 'community' or 'stakeholder' when it is used to refer to groups that already have names that are perfectly servicable. Don't give me the excuse of it allowing you to cut down on listing the groups ... they usually end up listing them anyway to make sure that we haven't missed a group out when talking about stakeholders!

[john]

"please give some money to myself and John" ???

Agreed, All cheques payable to John please

[jamesb]

Be honest now, you used a leet speak translator for that, didn't you?

[Messa]

I've heard them called 'Meices' pronounced 'Meeces' before now, :S is this even a word?! ahah

[mac_shinobi]

Don't think so. "Please give some money to myself" would be wrong, therefore so would "...myself and John".

 

Deleted and corrected Wasn't sure on that one myself but thought I'd throw it in there lol

[mac_shinobi]

Agreed, All cheques payable to John please

 

We Don't trust cheques anymore - only bank transfers, paypal and the likes oh and can't forget all major credit cards are welcomed / accepted

[enjay]

all major credit cards are welcomed / accepted

 

Or "excepted" according to the sign on a pub near me. Sigh. I wonder if that means they only accept cash?!

[BatchFile]

Best sign I saw on a pub was supposed to say "Cask Ales", but the C and A had fallen off so it said "ask les". I couldn't find Les to ask...

[sparkeh]

Heh near me there is a "Stationary store" - And to be fair it is still there every time I walk past it.

 

On management speak: I hate it. Actually in a broader sense I hate any language that is designed to exclude the uninitiated and make the speakers own arena seem more complex and mystical than it actually is.

 

This comes from spending some years working for a management consultancy company where this kind of thing was rife eg, "Interfacing with forward facing strategic stakeholders to align our prioritised goals blah blah yawn zzzz". On the whole this kind of nonsense is used to cover a lack of real knowledge or an uncomfortable reality.

 

I once sat through a presentation from the Chief Operating Officer that was abruptly stopped by the CEO by saying "Congratulations, you have set a new record for time spent speaking without actually saying a single thing, tell me, did we get the contract"

"No"

"Right...lets move on..."

 

This isn't just limited to management, all field of work have their own lingo to a certain extent, IT is a good example where unscrupulous techs/company spout some jargon whilst what they actually mean is "I am going to charge you a lot of money for a 5 minute job."