7-COLOR
February 14, 2013
Lakewood Sentinel 7
Lingo Bingo makes fun with words If, at the end of the day, you can take it to the next level, all boats rise. If you are a team player, you can connect the dots for a win-win. If you have the bandwidth, you can circle back for the low hanging fruit — it’s a no-brainer. Yes, I’m talking about corporate-speak, or business-speak, or whatever speak we want to call it. In a way, this type of syntax is a little like poetry — using images and metaphors for a regular concept such as, “Do you have time for this?” And for some reason, groups of people working together — at the office, on a volunteer project or in the classroom — develop this kind of metaphoric language, spread it among themselves, and both share it with and pick it up from other organizations. I don’t mean to say that this sharing is bad, like passing germs. But as a longstanding language watcher, I do find cor-
porate-type speak intriguing, especially because it’s been around for so long. For example, when one of my bosses once said, “at the end of the day,” I thought he literally meant at the end of the day. (I would have known the meaning if he had express it as “when it’s all said and done … ”) And that was 10 years ago. “Low-hanging fruit” — meaning “let’s work on the easy stuff first” — has been
around for as long as I’ve been in the corporate world, along with “think outside the box” and “I’ve got a lot on my plate.” “Bandwidth” is common around organizations today to talk about capacity. When you want someone to be in touch, you simply ask him or her to “ping” you — call, text, message or email. And let’s say you’re in a meeting when someone wants a more extended discussion; you’ll probably hear someone else ask to “take this offline” and then “circle back” to let the whole group know what’s been decided. On the other hand, some words and phrases were just a flash in the pan (now that’s an old one!). You don’t hear “paradigm shift,” “synergy” or “value-added” much any more. Words like “holistic,” “leverage” and “robust” have taken their places. The very organizations that perpetuate these semantic styles can also poke fun at themselves with what I call “Lingo Bingo”
— a sort of insider’s game to these cultural cues. It’s easy: Just compile the words and phrases that your coworkers, fellow volunteers or meeting attendees use on a regular basis. Divide up the words randomly and give everyone a different list. Then, during your meeting or conference call or special event, check off all the “speak” you hear from your list. The first one to get them all wins Lingo Bingo! To be clear, I’m not immune from corporate-speak myself. You’re likely to hear me use “skill set,” “right fit,” and “going forward,” as well as “touch base” and “team player.” What can I say? It is what it is. Andrea Doray is a writer who, net-net, enjoys a 30,000-foot view of language trends...even when it’s a one-off. Contact her at a.doray@ andreadoray.com with your favorite “speak.”
YOUR VIEWS Some explanation
In order to communicate via the city’s email network, the city provides an iPad to all council members. In order to save the taxpayers’ money, I declined to accept the city’s iPad and used my own personal iPad instead. A couple months ago I experienced email problems that my own computer experts were unable to resolve. Since I was not getting my city email messages, I asked the city’s IT personnel for help. When I opened my iPad for the employee there was a picture of a very scantly clan female celebrity. Although I shut the picture down immediately the employee did catch a glimpse of it. The employee evidently felt the picture was pornographic and reported it. Since art is a subjective judgment I respect the employee’s opinion. In any case, even though the picture wasn’t pornography it was inappropriate. I’m not going to get into a debate about art versus indecency. We all agree it was inappropriate. Although it was on my personal iPad and it was inadvertent as Harry Truman would say “the buck stops here.” Therefore, I take responsibility for the mishap and have publicly apologized. I have taken steps to ensure it can’t happen again. I deleted the offending picture and requested a city iPad to keep city business separate from personal business. Since no rules were broken, no laws violated and I have apologized for the embarrassment, I will now work to get beyond this distraction and focus our attention back on the people’s business. David Wiechman Lakewood council member
LETTERS POLICY
Taking exception to gun control resolution
Two of the three Jefferson County commissioners recently agreed to send our state and federal lawmakers a resolution that purportedly represents the sentiments of the nearly 600,000 residents of Jefferson County in regard to gun control legislation. This proposal was drafted by Commissioner Don Rosier and first presented at the commissioners’ meeting on Jan. 26. It was not linked with their meeting agenda online for citizens to review. The Jefferson County League of Women Voters testified at the commissioners’ meeting on Feb. 5, objecting to this lack of transparency in government, the need for better accountability to residents and the importance of soliciting citizen input on such a controversial issue. The League of Women Voters believes that limiting the accessibility and regulating the ownership of handguns and semiautomatic weapons is necessary to protect the health and safety of citizens. We take exception with this resolution stating that neither the U.S. Congress nor the Colorado General Assembly should entertain consideration of any new legislation for any aspect of gun control, claiming any action would infringe on Second Amendment rights. The resolution justifies its cause by claims such as “… tyrants have recognized that a disarmed population is readily dominated,” and further claiming that gun control laws implicitly assume the guilt of lawful firearms owners. The resolution urges Congress to reject international treaties, including those with the United Nations, which might stand in the way of restricting firearms access, sale and ownership. The resolution also cites a
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erning, and this is a “deep red resolution.” League objects to many parts of this resolution, especially its accusatory tone with no willingness to consider any new approaches to solving the tragic violent nature of our society. As Commissioner Griffin said, “This resolution says we won’t listen to anything new.” What a sad document to present to our state legislature and the U.S. Congress from our county. Ann Taylor Roux President of League of Women Voters of Jefferson County
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study from the Centers for Disease Control claiming gun control doesn’t reduce crime. We note that Congress, responding to pressure from the NRA and Gun Owners of America, forbade the CDC from receiving funding for researching gun violence in 1990, basically shutting it down. In our opinion, this resolution – which is confrontational in nature — does not reflect the majority view of the people in our county. As one citizen expressed in public testimony, Jefferson County is now a “purple” county, with equal representation of all party affiliations and approaches to gov-
CHURCH OF CHRIST
Golden Church of Christ 1100 Ulysses St. (303) 279-3872 Rick Walker - Evangelist Bible classes for all ages 9 Worship 10 Sunday Evening Prayer meeting 5:30 Worship 6:00
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COME TO THE FRIENDLIEST CHURCH Nursery care provided VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME
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Arvada Christian Church 8010 West 62nd Avenue
303-422-5412
Worship.............................9:30 am Thurs. Night Bible Study...6:30 pm Nursery Available
George Morrison, Senior Pastor
Please join us for our weekend and mid-week services
62nd & Ward Road
Family Worship Center Saturday ....................................................5:00 pm Sunday ..................................9:00 am & 10:45 am Wednesday ...............................................6:30 pm
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Sunday ....................................................10:30 am
Unity of Evergreen at Red Rocks
Reverend Julie Armour Home of the Daily Word
The Chapel at Red Rocks 905 Bear Creek Ave • Morrison 3rd Entrance into Red Rocks Park
303-697-1533
www.mountainlightunity.org Sunday Service and Youth Education Program at 9:30 A.M. A Path for Spiritual Living
PRESBYTERIAN
Golden First Presbyterian Church
On the round-about at South Golden Rd. and West 16th Ave. Sunday Praise & Worship................. ......9:00 am Fellowship Time .....................................10:00 am Church School ................................ .......10:30 am
Pastor: Rev. Dr. Miriam M. Dixon
Nursery provided
CROSSROADS
CHURCH OF DENVER
A PLACE TO DO LIFE
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CHILDREN’S MINISTRY FOR ALL AGES 9725 W. 50th • Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 (303) 421-3800 Main
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UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST
Jefferson Unitarian Church 14350 W. 32nd Ave.
303-279-5282 www.jeffersonunitarian.org A Religious Home for the Liberal Spirit Service Times: 9:15am / 11:00am Religious education for all ages. Nursery care provided.