Summary: Forgot the buzzwords. Use real, reader-submitted words and laymanize it!
Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the recent tweets and blog posts about industry speak and buzzwords? Laymanize it!
Just for fun, today I visited the open dictionary at Merriam-Webster.com—the section on the website where visitors like you and me can add our own words (and, yes, I have accepted the invitation to add my own words in the past). Have you added the words you use everyday? If not, visit the list for yourself and see what's missing that you can contribute: New Words & Slang Open Dictionary.
One word that jumped out at me from the "recently added" list was laymanize, defined by the adder as "to simplify a statement; to state in layman's terms." A sample sentence might be, "Doctor, instead of using medical jargon to answer my health questions, could you laymanize your answers?" ... Your doctor may or may not appreciate this request.
The etymology of this word? Well, that we'll have to come up with together in the true spirit of open dictionaries. First known usage on record would be 2012; and I'd wager the word stems from the English noun layman, meaning non-expert. Layman derives from the adjective lay (originating from the German Gothic lagjan, to put or to place) and the noun man (an ancient word stemming from multiple language roots, most recently meaning human being or person). To put something into layman's terms is to re-word it in language that's understandable to all. In other words, laymanize it!
© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2012
Showing posts with label industry buzzword. Show all posts
Showing posts with label industry buzzword. Show all posts
Aug 1, 2012
Jul 17, 2012
Summary: Welcome back to the Beyond Talk blog! Read today's post to learn more about last week's mini-blog tweet of the word granular as an industry buzzword.
Do you follow me on Twitter (@KealahParkinson)? If so, you've been getting mini-blog posts on WOW Words of the Week—industry buzzword terms like last week's granular.
Granular (GRAN - yeh - LEHR) – Its basic definition is something grainy or seemingly consisting of grains, such as sugar or sand; but in business-speak, it means finely detailed. In other words, it's getting down to the nitty-gritty. Sample sentence: "The client was pleased that Sue's proposal was granularly focused on the service schedule of our project." Etymology: This word entered the English language in the late 1700s from the Latin granule, a diminutive of the Latin word granum for grain or seed. Related word: Granola—which, when used colloquially to mean nature-oriented and/or modern-day-hippie, is decidedly un-business-oriented!
© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2012
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