By Gary Dickson
There are few people who can honestly say they have no addictions. I may not drink alcohol or smoke, but I am addicted to the caffeine in Coca-Cola, therefore I drink Cokes every day. Others need coffee or tea every morning. After you read my premise for this column, you may think I”m over the edge on this one, but give it some thought before you dismiss it as the rant of a newspaper publisher who had to fill some space at deadline. My supposition is that people can become addicted to words and phrases.
In your mind, picture your family members and close friends. Can you think of certain words or phrases that each person seems to use often? I bet you can. There is nothing wrong with using words or groups of words that have become fashionable and turn them into our signature comments, except sometimes we overdo it.
What caused me to write about this topic in the first place is the fact that certain buzzwords or phrases in the business setting tend to become overused and we just get tired of hearing them. As time goes by, some old and tired buzzwords get replaced by new and more up-to-date models. If you work in an office, I”m sure you understand what I”m talking about. I”ve read about some places where staffers discreetly play buzzword bingo at company meetings. Some managers enjoy spewing out buzzwords in rapid-fire mode.
If you don”t work in an office setting, you have probably still encountered the buzzword syndrome in your normal social interactions. Many current business buzzwords have branched out into the general public and are used frequently.
You”ve likely experienced some or all of these, unless, like in the GEICO commercial, you really have been living under a rock. If we are truthful, most of us can even admit to having used most of these words and phrases.
Two of the most overused buzz-phrases involve the element of time. They are “At the end of the day,” and “Moving forward.” At the end of the day I know I”m going to be 5-foot-7. Moving forward, I”d like to grow, but at my age I”ll probably just shrink. Oh, well.
The Invisible Man would do really well in today”s world because everyone seems to want transparency in all things. Most of the time open or openness could be substituted for transparent. A recent article claims that Mitt Romney is the most transparent presidential candidate. Interesting, there is a new invisible man.
Some people get all philosophical on us and say, “It is what it is.” Of course it is. That is one of the most basic lessons of logic; the law of identity. It states that “an object is the same as itself: A = A.” So, why do so many people find the need to state the obvious?
It would make perfect sense for the local pear farmers to say, “Let”s go after the low-hanging fruit.” But, I hear it all the time in business settings where there are no trees and no fruit. It just sounds cooler than saying, “Let”s do the easy stuff first.”
Drilling down used to evoke mental pictures of the dentist or the oil rigs I used to see when I lived in the Gulf of Mexico area. Now, if we need to look further into something, like a sudden increase in supply costs, for example, we have to drill down into the accounting reports to find the cause of the extra expense.
Some other terms I hear too often include interface, viral, mission critical, robust, go offline and, of course, the always reliable level playing field. I”m not against using any of these, when it is the absolute best expression for the situation. But, not just because it may be trendy, sound cool or stroke our ego.
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. E-mail him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
