Posted by JenStar on August 29, 2004, at 18:42:32
In reply to Anyone count ums?, posted by Miss Honeychurch on August 27, 2004, at 13:41:52
that is, um, like, hilarious!
At my old company, the word "so" became the most-used word of all. A manager started it, and soon EVERYONE was "so-ing" all over the place. "SO" would precede every sentence -- literally. It got to where one of the new-hires printed up a bingo sheet with "So" on it and filled it out for one of the managers. It was really funny when we reviewed it later on...
I always found it fascinating how a really dorky phrase would come in to the workplace, pick up steam, and suddenly become de rigueur -- you weren't anybody if you weren't saying IT.
One example was bandwidth: "Hey, JenStar, do you have the BANDWIDTH to complete that project?"
Kind of like ValleyGirl talk -- pretty soon, everyone is saying it! I think language is fascinating that way -- how phrases originate, spread and die. Of course, fascination doesn't keep me from wincing every time I hear one of my "favorite" little gems! And of course I'm sure I said many things that made my OWN employees wince. Fair game, right?Jen (fellow um-disliker) Star
poster:JenStar
thread:382165
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040820/msgs/383808.html