Jargon in the UK, Breath Coaches, Pilots' Pay, Modern Thinking
Jargon
If this jargon leaves you confused and bewildered you may be one of the young graduates put off by meaningless language in job descriptions.
… The worst culprits were public relations, IT, sales, marketing and engineering companies. The terms used included on-boarding (being enrolled in a business), C-suite (most senior executive), ninja (desirable employee) and open the kimono (reveal a project’s inner workings).
The legal industry, property, administration, insurance and banking were also accused of using too much jargon.
… The most off-putting descriptions included ninja, laser-focused, action-orientated and proven track record. The most misunderstood phrases included growth-hacking (acquire customers while spending as little as possible), thought-shower (brain storming session) and low-hanging fruit (easily achieved goals).
Nearly one in 12 people said that they had used jargon to appear in the know, even though they had no idea what the term meant. The most common phrases bandied about were second-line and front-to-back…
(The Times,2019)
Jargon and Cliché Bingo
Card to be taken to meetings.
Five buzzwords in any row, column or diagonal is “BINGO!”
Only mark off buzz words uttered by others.
Breath Coaches
Jill McGowan, a former midwife, is now a breath coach and breathing has become big business. There are thousands of these coaches in the UK and hundreds of apps that promise to “biohack your breathing.” Practise correct breathing and you will have harder abs, lower levels of anxiety and will sleep better, its proponents claim. (The Times)
BA
…Of the 3,800 BA pilots who are members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa), the overwhelming majority have voted in favour of going on strike, rejecting an offer from the company that equates to a 11.5 per cent pay rise over three years, including a 4 per cent award this year (higher than inflation). The airline said its offer is “fair and generous”, but the pilots believe they deserve a slice of the record profits of almost £2bn that BA made last year, given that investors enjoyed the benefit of dividend payments of around £1bn.
Well, that’s capitalism for you, and from the outside, it’s hard to see who is on the side of right. It does seem like a generous pay award for workers who, according to the job site Glass Door, are on an average annual salary of £80,000 (a figure that doesn’t include additional pay such as bonuses and stocks), and I can also understand why BA wouldn’t want to share hard-earned profits with people who are already well remunerated. So I have a suggestion. Why don’t the pilots accept the pay award, and the company share their prosperity with a different group of long-suffering stakeholders – their customers.
(Simon Kelner, The i, 2019)
Modern Thinking
Parents should banish
phones from children’s bedrooms at night and at the dinner table, according to
the first guidelines on screen time and social media from senior medical
advisors.
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The Merry-Go- Round, Mark Gertler (1891-1939)
Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND]
|
Do you
pounce like a ninja? Are you a laser-focused self-starter who can hit the
ground running?
If this jargon leaves you confused and bewildered you may be one of the young graduates put off by meaningless language in job descriptions.
… The worst culprits were public relations, IT, sales, marketing and engineering companies. The terms used included on-boarding (being enrolled in a business), C-suite (most senior executive), ninja (desirable employee) and open the kimono (reveal a project’s inner workings).
The legal industry, property, administration, insurance and banking were also accused of using too much jargon.
… The most off-putting descriptions included ninja, laser-focused, action-orientated and proven track record. The most misunderstood phrases included growth-hacking (acquire customers while spending as little as possible), thought-shower (brain storming session) and low-hanging fruit (easily achieved goals).
Nearly one in 12 people said that they had used jargon to appear in the know, even though they had no idea what the term meant. The most common phrases bandied about were second-line and front-to-back…
(The Times,2019)
Jargon and Cliché Bingo
Card to be taken to meetings.
Ninja
|
Laser-focused
|
On-boarding
|
C-suite
|
Open the kimono
|
Action-orientated
|
Proven track record
|
Growth hacking
|
Thought shower
|
Low hanging fruit
|
Second line
|
Front to back
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Blue screen
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Ballpark figure
|
No I in team
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Pushing the envelope
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Think outside the box
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Mission critical
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Core competencies
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Knowledge base
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At the end of the day
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Like
|
24/7
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I hear what you’re saying
|
Touch base
|
Five buzzwords in any row, column or diagonal is “BINGO!”
Only mark off buzz words uttered by others.
Breath Coaches
 |
The Centurion: The Incredulity of Thomas, Italian School
Photo Credit: University of Liverpool [CC BY-NC-ND]
|
Jill McGowan, a former midwife, is now a breath coach and breathing has become big business. There are thousands of these coaches in the UK and hundreds of apps that promise to “biohack your breathing.” Practise correct breathing and you will have harder abs, lower levels of anxiety and will sleep better, its proponents claim. (The Times)
Manana.
 |
| Driving a Hard Bargain: Erskine Nichol (1825-1904) Photo Credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums [CC BY-NC] |
BA
…Of the 3,800 BA pilots who are members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa), the overwhelming majority have voted in favour of going on strike, rejecting an offer from the company that equates to a 11.5 per cent pay rise over three years, including a 4 per cent award this year (higher than inflation). The airline said its offer is “fair and generous”, but the pilots believe they deserve a slice of the record profits of almost £2bn that BA made last year, given that investors enjoyed the benefit of dividend payments of around £1bn.
Well, that’s capitalism for you, and from the outside, it’s hard to see who is on the side of right. It does seem like a generous pay award for workers who, according to the job site Glass Door, are on an average annual salary of £80,000 (a figure that doesn’t include additional pay such as bonuses and stocks), and I can also understand why BA wouldn’t want to share hard-earned profits with people who are already well remunerated. So I have a suggestion. Why don’t the pilots accept the pay award, and the company share their prosperity with a different group of long-suffering stakeholders – their customers.
(Simon Kelner, The i, 2019)
Perhaps the BA pilots will be the initiators of a common
demand: that those who contribute to the success of a company should be
included in the distribution of the profits. Isn’t this the philosophy at John
Lewis? And what about the 300 employees at The Hut
Group, the Manchester-based online retailer, set up in 2004 by Matthew Moulding
and John Gallemore, who have shared a £21 million windfall after they increased
sales?
Modern Thinking
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Scene from Bickerstaffe's Play 'The Hypocrite'
Adapted from Colly Cibbers 'Non Juror'
Robert Smirke (1753-1845)
Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND]
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Why aren’t they doing it
already? Is it because they are using their phones at the dinner table and in
the bedroom?
Two months later.
…But for the rest
of us, low-level hypocrisy is pretty much a fact of life. I take away my
daughter’s electronics at night while not averse to looking at my own phone in
bed. So what, really? In the great scheme of things, it’s about as awful as
claiming you’re a cat person and suddenly getting a dog.
(India
Knight, The Sunday Times)
Do you not think your daughter knows about your own phone? And will she now treat what you say to her about electronics with just a
little contempt?
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