Buzzing around

A few years ago, I chided a former co-worker (a friend of mine) when she told me “It is what it is.”

“Exactly what IS IS?,” I asked her, teasing her, “and, really, what do you mean?”

That statement – which was kind of like a verbal shrug of the shoulders - was all the rage a couple years ago. It was a part of the unmistakable lingo that goes on in the workplace. It begs the question: “Why do we have two different languages?” We have the way we talk, normally, and then there is business-speak. Also known as jargon, lingo or buzzwords.

I’ve never watched the tv show “The Office,” but I wonder, is that how the characters on that show speak? Or maybe it all comes from the comic strip “Dilbert.” In any case, it seems offices - all offices…in all types of businesses - tend to promote this kind of dialect.

The all-time Hall of Fame Leader might be “Paradigm Shift.” Remember that one from a few years ago? (I never REALLY knew what exactly what that meant…but I gathered that it usually went along with a necessary change of thought for everyone sitting around the conference table in that room).

Another one of my favorite ‘themes’ is improvement. Improvement is a good thing. We all want to improve, right?

But in the office place, people need to “Take it to the next level.” Or “Take it up a Notch.” Or, they simply need to “Step Up.” (Where, exactly, are they stepping? Is there a mythical staircase or invisible ladder?). Really, I think, the statement should be “Step Forward” (but that isn’t as lyrical).

And of course in terms of technology, the best of the best is described as “State of the Art.” Right?

There are some other classic ones. It’s not enough to agree with a colleague. You have to be ‘lock step.’ And the next step beyond calling or sending an e-mail to a colleague is to ‘ping’ them. (I wonder if the recipients feel some sort of ‘pinging’ sensation).

And here are a couple other juicy ones. If you have EXPERIENCE with a certain problem, situation or project, you have either “been to this dance before…” or maybe you have even “been to this rodeo before.”

Yee-Hah!

Of course, the media is not exempt from buzzwords. If the President is coming into the House of Representative chamber to give the State of the Union Address, he is frequently “making his way” into the building, through the hall or down the aisle.

A hurricane out in the ocean is often said to be “churning” (churning what exactly?) and those who may be impacted the storm could be described as being “in harm’s way.”

Meanwhile, don’t EVEN get me started on acronyms. They’re buzzwords in a language all their own!

So while you ponder this lingo – and decide whether or not to join me in my cause to get back to ‘real-speak’ – I’m going to think outside the box and imagine what else I can do.

JG

(Source: Yahoo!)

Originally posted 1/27/2012