The Language of the Recession

Sarah Rice

Language tells us a lot about where people are at with their thinking. Corp-speak, best known for it obfuscation, can also reveal. Here is Sentient’s In and Out word list for mid-2009

OUT	IN
Innovative: using new words to talk about old concepts	Pragmatic: same old stuff, but now we don’t have to dress it up in new clothes
Smart: we’ve put some young guys with funky hair cuts into the meetings so it feels edgy	Wise: we finally get to the take the young guys out of our meetings
Out the box thinking: lets have a wild idea and then throw money at the problem till we can claim success	Prudent: no wild ideas. Just good, hard working solutions that come in on-budget
People centric: we have to be, or they will leave for a better paying job elsewhere	Profit centric: we have to be, or we will go out of business. The good news is that we don’t have to pander to the whims of young gun employees with funky hair cuts

Personally? I am relieved this bling-bling-gel-laden-funky-hairdo-check-out-my-trainers-they-cost-more-than-your-car way of communicating has been replaced by the bring-your-own-shopping-bag-wash-the-jam-jars-buy-in-bulk-fiscal-conservative-ness of our grandparent’s generation.

I never have to use the word innovative in a press release ever again. It’s a bit more real now. It’s all about getting the job done and getting paid for it.

Wonderful. Now, if we could just prove the prudence of pragmatic PR… then I would be onto something truly innovative…

Comments

lekker one Sarah!

japie on 2009/08/12