Creative lessons in lingo, laughs and advertising

摘要

Everyone does it, including you. Employees often attempt to win co-workers' respect with customized vocabulary, even at the risk of sounding pretentious. Due to the nature of many occupations, however, technical terminology is often necessary. In a March 31 posting at EchelonMagaane.com, consulting experts Christine Lambden and Casey Conner, authors of "Everyday Practices of Extraordinary Consultants" (Red Line Publishing Group, 2008), offered "12 workplace phrases you probably don't know ...but should." Examples that spark interest and allow you to fit in without provoking condescension or artificiality: "Boil the ocean": a project so large it must be broken up into parts. "We're not trying to boil the ocean. We just need to..." when attempting to regulate costs and avoid an overly ambitious venture. "Drinkthe Kool-Aid": Determinately performing a task or following a leader without knowing the affected outcome. "He drank the Kool-Aid," meaning, he bought the company line. "Greenfield instance": A clean installation of an application without customizations or configurations. 'Talking to the dog": To think through an issue by talking it through out loud.