Auditing the complexities of contemporary adult interpersonal communication
A couple of months ago I was going about my business in the CBD (for the record, I am not a window-washer) when two business-type blokes walking in front of me who were heatedly discussing something came to an abrupt stop. Before I had a chance to walk clumsily into them, one turned sharply to the other and said,
"Oh, look I've had it. Just bottom-line me will you?"
When the other bloke gave him a passive stare in response and muttered some kind of outcome/figures nexus that made no sense to me, I figured it was a new kind of business speak, sort of a "cut to the chase" for a new millenium.
Not, as I had first thought, something involving anal sex and cocaine.
Although with those business types, I guess anything is possible. I've seen 'Wall Street', I know what goes on.
I am finding myself now (following "my third birthday with a '0' in it", as my parents tactfully put it) very concerned when I hear new words in use in the world around me.
It's not really technological language or new words to emphasise all that is cutting edge (although I wouldn't presume to know what any of those are, I'm just happy with my requisite cache of faintly cringe-worthy throw-away lines). It's more the use of words in a totally new and inappropriate way that bothers me.
Which is why I am horrified to report that yesterday, in a job interview, I described myself as "potentially a lynchpin". What the hell did I mean by that? If I don't understand it, is it possible any of the panel did?
Better words I could have used to describe the position I was seeking include:
1. conduit (thesaurus says also: waterway, channel, stream)
2. resource (thesaurus says also: reserve, supply, source)
3. harbinger (of doom?)
4. "ugly, red, source of all evil"
I could obsess about this. Yes, that seems like a good idea.
"Oh, look I've had it. Just bottom-line me will you?"
When the other bloke gave him a passive stare in response and muttered some kind of outcome/figures nexus that made no sense to me, I figured it was a new kind of business speak, sort of a "cut to the chase" for a new millenium.
Not, as I had first thought, something involving anal sex and cocaine.
Although with those business types, I guess anything is possible. I've seen 'Wall Street', I know what goes on.
I am finding myself now (following "my third birthday with a '0' in it", as my parents tactfully put it) very concerned when I hear new words in use in the world around me.
It's not really technological language or new words to emphasise all that is cutting edge (although I wouldn't presume to know what any of those are, I'm just happy with my requisite cache of faintly cringe-worthy throw-away lines). It's more the use of words in a totally new and inappropriate way that bothers me.
Which is why I am horrified to report that yesterday, in a job interview, I described myself as "potentially a lynchpin". What the hell did I mean by that? If I don't understand it, is it possible any of the panel did?
Better words I could have used to describe the position I was seeking include:
1. conduit (thesaurus says also: waterway, channel, stream)
2. resource (thesaurus says also: reserve, supply, source)
3. harbinger (of doom?)
4. "ugly, red, source of all evil"
I could obsess about this. Yes, that seems like a good idea.
posted by gigglewick at
2:35 am
4 Comments:
It sounds to me like you actually strung a complete sentence together! Well done! (That's far more than I'm obviously capable of in an interview.)
Wow... It's impressive how quickly your brain works viz the bottom line reference. And dont sweat re the interview, if you can. No point wasting energy worrying about the past. I'm sure they got what you meant. Fingers crossed regd u getting it.
I found an old essay from my far distant Uni days where I wrote that a particular approach was "not entirely disutile".
I think I was trying to satisfy a high word count whilst saying "useful"
Why those nut-bags ever gave me a degree is beyond me.
(And good luck with that job application thing)
Meva,
Let's not forget that that sentence came out of my mouth after I had gone "er er er" for about 20 seconds and THAT WAS THE BEST THING I COULD COME UP WITH.
Hope you have a great time on your holiday young lady - good news that despite new job you have managed to finagle a break...probably more than I will manage before the end of the year!
Chai,
Yes. I am filthy like that. Sorry.
INCraig,
I was so impressed by "dis-utile" I straightaway googled it - was it a law subject you were writing for, in which case congratulations on using a libertarian source word in your essay.
Yes, I've found one of my job applications (actually for the job I'm doing now, a job I really like) and it was possibly over-burdened with jargon. There's something about writing against key selection criteria that brings out the bureaucrat in most of us I suspect.
Perhaps when they ring to tell me if I've got the job I should ask them to "bottom line me".
Then again, perhaps not.
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