minds, metaphors and (ethical) manipulation
Posts tagged jargon
Why it pays to use their words
Aug 3rd
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The new coalition government in the UK uses a different language to its predecessor. Of course, it’s still English – and it’s still packed with jargon! But according to a leaked memo, there have been subtle changes.
“Targets” have been replaced by “results”; “stakeholders” by “people”; “narrowing the gap” by “closing the gap”; “state” by “society” and so on.
According to an item on Radio 4 the memo was created to help outside agencies communicate more effectively with the government. How could it help? The implicit presupposition is that if you want to get your message across to someone, using their words rather than your own can be very valuable.
Research shows that this definitely does pay. Professor Richard Wiseman (in his brilliant book 59 Seconds) quotes a study from the University of Nijmegen in which a waitress increased her tips by 70 per cent simply by repeating the customer’s order back to them, rather than saying “okay” or “coming right up”.
How does this work? As commentator Dr Nicholas Ostler put it on the Today programme, “The way More >
Humpty Dumpty definitions and what you can do about them
Jan 20th
Why can’t people just say what they mean? Ambiguity and confusion, resulting in wasted effort, frayed tempers, and increased costs, are common in all business environments.
Misunderstandings can be bad enough when you’re face-to-face with colleagues – but the problem gets even worse when technological, linguistic and cultural communication barriers are added to the mix.
If you have a sense that everyone you talk to has a different understanding of the crucial definitions or terms on your project – you’re right!
Language is a wonderfully flexible tool. But its very flexibility leads to problems: everyone thinks they’re like Humpty Dumpty, and can use words to mean whatever they choose them to mean!
For example, if you ask two people to think of a tree, then check the details of the tree they thought of, you’ll discover that no two people’s trees are ever exactly the same. It’s not that one is right and one is wrong – it’s just that they are different.
And the more novel or complex the topic, the greater the scope for differences of meaning.
When it’s your job to sort out these differences, to achieve a consensus of meaning, then here’s an X-Ray Listening tip. More >
