Originally Posted by indigo
Originally Posted by Dude
Quote
Ugh, yes! The "what does that word mean" in a professional setting is maddening!

Or its corollary, "that word does not mean what you think it means." My organization is notorious for using vague and unhelpful terminology, then wondering why we're constantly talking past each other. It's almost as if we need an organization-to-English dictionary.
Agreed.

One company, known for ruthless negotiation, had a brief TV commercial spot created. While still in final phase editing, they renegotiated a lower price. This was mentioned jubilantly when they gathered employees together for a perfunctory social occasion victory dinner and screened the ad, whose final line was, "We want to be your penultimate consulting firm!"

Note: Penultimate means second-to-last. Possibly including this closing line was the ad company's response to being paid less than the amount originally agreed to; The ad company may have had the last laugh... as the shrewd negotiators evidently were not as strong in their vocabulary skills, but were quite proud to be "penultimate!" smirk

Did they ever work it out? Words are beautiful yet we only use a small proportion of them. I have been criticised for using too many big words and had people complain they can't understand me. Why is this a fault with me rather than the other person?

Last edited by puffin; 03/24/18 04:57 PM.