SNP’s word of the day: Abstractionitis
Word: Abstractionitis
Meaning: A highly viral linguistic affliction that prevents one from speaking in a manner any real human can reasonably understand.
Usage: “I know some folks who use Abstractionitis & Meaningless Expressions to the point of distraction & ridiculousness. #TheyDontKnowWhoTheyAre” —some rando on Twitter
You should know it because: Abstractionitis—as coined by the Harvard Business Review blog in this quite funny post—is a killer. It’s a language killer, firstly. It’s a comprehension killer. It’s a meaning killer. If we don’t have meaning, do we have life at all? OKAY CHILL, SARAH. But seriously: enough with the inflation of language, with the six imprecise, near-meaningless, value-detracted words where one should do, with the passive and abstract b-to-the-s. What do “conversate” and “utilize” mean that “converse” and “use” don’t? Why am I repeatedly asked to “have a dialogue” instead of “talk?” Why do my copywriting clients ask me to “create a inclusive-yet-exclusive message with a strong call to action” when what they mean is “tell regular people to buy things to make themselves special”? Perhaps we’re afraid that if we speak too simply, we’ll sound dumb. Perhaps we are afraid of what we’re really saying.
I’m all for using a lot of words (duh) if they’re specific and thrilling words. But I’m dead against using heaps of vacuous, obscurant, workplace-cluttering jargon just so we can pretend we’re not all selling something. Any self-proclaimed social media–ite who opens his or her mouth in an elevator with me will very soon not want to be in that elevator. Like, sorry, but try some bloody English. Abstractionitis is sweeping the boardrooms and the Skype meetings and the startup cubbyholes of the continent, and what’s the only vaccine? Thinking, actually thinking, before you speak.
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[caption id="attachment_68436" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Illustration by Lewis Mirrett"] [/caption]
Word: Abstractionitis
Meaning: A highly viral linguistic affliction that prevents one from speaking in a manner any real human can reasonably understand.
Usage: “I know some folks who use Abstractionitis & Meaningless Expressions to the point of distraction & ridiculousness. #TheyDontKnowWhoTheyAre” —some rando on Twitter
You should know it because: Abstractionitis—as coined by the Harvard Business Review blog in this quite funny post—is a killer. It's a language killer, firstly. It's a comprehension killer. It's a meaning killer. If we don't have meaning, do we have life at all? OKAY CHILL, SARAH. But seriously: enough with the inflation of language, with the six imprecise, near-meaningless, value-detracted words where one should do, with the passive and abstract b-to-the-s. What do “conversate” and “utilize” mean that “converse” and “use” don't? Why am I repeatedly asked to “have a dialogue” instead of “talk?” Why do my copywriting clients ask me to “create a inclusive-yet-exclusive message with a strong call to action” when what they mean is “tell regular people to buy things to make themselves special”? Perhaps we're afraid that if we speak too simply, we'll sound dumb. Perhaps we are afraid of what we're really saying.
I'm all for using a lot of words (duh) if they're specific and thrilling words. But I'm dead against using heaps of vacuous, obscurant, workplace-cluttering jargon just so we can pretend we're not all selling something. Any self-proclaimed social media–ite who opens his or her mouth in an elevator with me will very soon not want to be in that elevator. Like, sorry, but try some bloody English. Abstractionitis is sweeping the boardrooms and the Skype meetings and the startup cubbyholes of the continent, and what's the only vaccine? Thinking, actually thinking, before you speak.){kind=link}