Cant, gibberish and jargon - satirising management language
BOOK REVIEW
By Tony Spencer-Smith
Management language is squeezing meaning and poetry out of human communication, leaving it without “flesh or bone or blood”, warns Don Watson, Australia’s Jeremiah of words.
In his fourth book Worst words: a compendium of contemporary cant, gibberish and jargon (Vintage), he satirises thousands of examples of language abuse throughout society, particularly in business and politics.
The former speech writer for Paul Keating says: ‘For all the talk of diversity and flexibility, brain-storming and blue-skying, management language is designed to get everyone thinking the same way; or, more accurately, not thinking beyond the part each plays in the process.
‘One cannot think in clichés, or in pure abstraction, or in messages: and to speak or write in these forms is to prevent others from thinking too.’
Watson is a great and lyrical author, so it is easy to understand why he gets so upset about the crimes management language commits against the powerful and evocative use of words. Yes, he does tend to rant a bit in frustration, but it behoves everyone in corporate communications to pay attention to what he says.
This is a book to dip into like a dictionary rather than to read right through. Instead of using a buzzword, look it up and see what Watson has to say about it. His keen sense of when words are misused and abused and his mordant sense of humour are what make this book fun to use.
Here are a few gems:
Baked in: embedded in the organisational culture. As, ‘Baking SEO into the company workflow and culture.’
Circle back: to go back, get back to, revert, revisit etc. As, ‘Can you circle back to me on that.’ ‘We’ll need to circle back on action item number two.’
Crystal clear: Foggy, murky, obscure, prolix. ‘I want to make this crystal clear ... The president is desirous of trying to see how we can make our best efforts in order to find a way to facilitate.’ John Kerry, US Secretary of State, April 2014.
High net worth individuals: Wealthy individuals. Rich, rich as Croesus, rich as, well-heeled, well off, well fixed, well to do, flush, loaded, filthy rich, pecunious, affluent people. ‘Investec seeks to improve financial services for high net worth individuals.’
Quite frankly: I need you to believe this. Put this bit at the top of the news. Here comes the grab. ‘Quite frankly, I think his comments were out of order.’ Joe Hockey, ABC, 17 May 2015
By Tony Spencer-Smith
Management language is squeezing meaning and poetry out of human communication, leaving it without “flesh or bone or blood”, warns Don Watson, Australia’s Jeremiah of words.
In his fourth book Worst words: a compendium of contemporary cant, gibberish and jargon (Vintage), he satirises thousands of examples of language abuse throughout society, particularly in business and politics.
The former speech writer for Paul Keating says: ‘For all the talk of diversity and flexibility, brain-storming and blue-skying, management language is designed to get everyone thinking the same way; or, more accurately, not thinking beyond the part each plays in the process.
‘One cannot think in clichés, or in pure abstraction, or in messages: and to speak or write in these forms is to prevent others from thinking too.’
Watson is a great and lyrical author, so it is easy to understand why he gets so upset about the crimes management language commits against the powerful and evocative use of words. Yes, he does tend to rant a bit in frustration, but it behoves everyone in corporate communications to pay attention to what he says.
This is a book to dip into like a dictionary rather than to read right through. Instead of using a buzzword, look it up and see what Watson has to say about it. His keen sense of when words are misused and abused and his mordant sense of humour are what make this book fun to use.
Here are a few gems:
Baked in: embedded in the organisational culture. As, ‘Baking SEO into the company workflow and culture.’
Circle back: to go back, get back to, revert, revisit etc. As, ‘Can you circle back to me on that.’ ‘We’ll need to circle back on action item number two.’
Crystal clear: Foggy, murky, obscure, prolix. ‘I want to make this crystal clear ... The president is desirous of trying to see how we can make our best efforts in order to find a way to facilitate.’ John Kerry, US Secretary of State, April 2014.
High net worth individuals: Wealthy individuals. Rich, rich as Croesus, rich as, well-heeled, well off, well fixed, well to do, flush, loaded, filthy rich, pecunious, affluent people. ‘Investec seeks to improve financial services for high net worth individuals.’
Quite frankly: I need you to believe this. Put this bit at the top of the news. Here comes the grab. ‘Quite frankly, I think his comments were out of order.’ Joe Hockey, ABC, 17 May 2015
