Don’t Bee Using Those Words

I used to work with a guy who described things with great hyperbole. And he talked very loudly when he was on the phone. And he never closed the door.

I think he really wanted us to hear his conversations. Like he was bragging. “Everyone: Listen to me!”

He was one of those guys who used to love to use corporate-speak. He was always “iterating” about things.  When you left work for the day, he’d always quip: “Don’t worry. That’s Tomorrow’s Problem.“

And I never knew why described his early morning business flight as leaving at “Oh Dark Thirty.”

One day, I asked him what that meant. He was flabbergasted.

Somewhere, I imagine this fellah might have run across this article, on freeenterprise.com, in which it unveiled the Top Five buzzwords for 2015. The Top Five: Uber. Hack. Pivot. Disrupt. Angel.

I’ve heard a couple of those on the list…in buzzword fashion, that is. Others…not so much. When I hear the word “Pivot,” for example, I think of  “Friends.” 

As I told you a couple years ago, I’m not a big fan of buzzwords. When I think of buzzing, I think of bees…like our old friend Mr. Doo Bee.

Still, I realize they are lexicon of doing business in the modern era. Tools. Just as our cellphones, laptops and tablets have become. 

I guess when you use words professionally – as a public relations practitioner, a former journalist, a blogger – words take on special meaning. You try to take special care with them.

Also, I’ve always loved collecting good ones.

As a seventh grader, one of my favorite exercises in Mr. Kincheloe’s language arts class was learning the word of the week. We added such notables as sagacious, mercurial and quixotic to our vocabulary.  I remember them all these years later.

Later, when I went to high school, my favorite classes were English – for obvious reasons – and also French. I loved learning new words.  L’ananas (pineapple), oublier (to forget) and raton laveur (raccoon) are some great ones I still love to say.

Good words, you see, are fun to say.

Sagacious. Oubier. Mercurial. Raton Laveur. Quixotic. L’ananas. Good words all. And not a buzzword among them.

JG

Originally posted 1/27/2015