Gobbledygook

Truth Thursday 

It happened again not long ago. I had a conversation with my boss in which he used a term I had never heard, in reference to a project he wanted me to complete. The term? “Plus Delta.” By Googling it, I learned that it means a “T” formation on a piece of paper, with one side (the “plus” side) meaning what is going well, and the other side (the “delta”) meaning what needs to be improved.

Really?  Why didn’t you just say so?

I live and work in Washington, DC. Over-educated people spewing gobbledygook and graduate school tools and acronyms are a part of everyday life here. I also happen to work in the Jewish community, which is has an alphabet soup of acronyms all its own. At NIF, I’ll partner with the AJC and the ADL, although probably not AIPAC, at the DCJCC (not the GWJCC) under the auspices of the JCRC and the UJC, which used to be the UJA and is now known as JFNA.

Got it?

Talking in letters is power. If you know what each of these acronyms means, then you know the secret handshake, wink, wink, and you’re really an insider. Outside the Jewish community, there are just as many three- and four-letter abbreviations for the multitude of organizations that comprise this town. And they’re different if you’re a Democrat or a Republican.

I remember when I was at another organization and my boss started talking about “vetting” someone for our board. I was an English major, and I pride myself on a pretty extensive vocabulary, but I had never heard this word used in this context. But rather than call my boss on it, I went to the dictionary (back then, still a hard cover book) and looked it up. It’s the third definition in the list, by the way, and it means to make a prior examination and critical appraisal of a person, place or thing.

I’m embarrassed to say that I now use “vet” all the time. But I haven’t forgotten what it felt like to have an important person use the word and expect me to understand what it meant.

This has happened a number of times in my work life. And those moments seem to stick in my memory. Maybe because I’m still a little unsure of myself, and I worry that if I don’t appear to know what someone’s talking about I’ll look dumb.  Maybe it’s because I’m always a little amazed at what I don’t know. And maybe it’s because I’m acutely aware that we all fall into speech patterns and trendy word usage and I simply find it interesting.

For example, I think about my sister and her work in the corporate world. A few years ago, she started telling me about how everyone in her office worked in silos. Now, I knew that my sister didn't work on a farm and she certainly wasn’t using a pitchfork to toss hay around. But the concept of “working in silos” was becoming a trendy way to illustrate the isolation of the American workplace. Gradually, it made its way into the non-profit world as well, and I have now heard it used frequently to describe a dysfunctional workplace. But I’m on the fence (although not on the farm) about it as a term of art for the work world.

In my very first job, I was asked to look up information about some sort of retirement fund for our accountant. But when the request was thrown my way, I had absolutely no idea what was being asked of me. I dutifully tried to figure it out, assuming that by the time I was my boss’s age, I would no longer not understand these things at work.

How wrong I was.

So I created a “Plus Delta” tabulation to review the event I planned and executed. I thought it went well. My boss wanted to know what could be better next time. Maybe I could just say that – it was a great event, and next time, we’ll raise even more money.

I’ll take that back to my silo to vet it before I turn it in.

 

Comments

[Katherine]

I love this post. I join you in the crusade against jargon. When I am in a conversation and someone uses an acronym or word I don't understand, I ask them to explain. I don't care if they think I'm stupid or uninformed -- and I hope that it causes them to rethink their casual use of insider language.

Sometimes, I do think that people use acronyms or jargon because they're so used to it in their ordinary speech. Those are the people we can win over to our cause: the quest for clear, accessible language.