Summary: Say goodbye to the Olympics and hello to a whole new list of Olympics-related words and phrases.
The 2012 Summer Olympics in London have officially drawn to a close. But it's not too late to use your Olympics vocabulary—and expand your daily vocabulary with new, globally current words.
EnglishClub.com has a whole host of quizzes and other links on Olympics-related vocabulary, including sports idioms like the pan-athletic phrases "at this stage in the game" and "blow the competition away." Interestingly, most sports-related phrases are used repeatedly in business speak. How many do you recognize and hear (or use) on a regular basis?
One term from that very list that I learned the origin of is "hot shot" (also "big shot"). It makes sense that this hunting term has come to mean someone who either is important or thinks he or she is important. However, EtymOnline.com states that in the 1600s, the phrase (still likely derived from hunting) meant someone who was reckless. The ingenuity in hunting technology is likely to credit for at least some of the changes in the word's meaning: Someone who shot too quickly in the past was reckless, while someone who shoots quickly today—especially using ready-loaded guns with sites—is likely on-target ... which just so happens to be another hunting idiom that's commonly used in the business world. (For example: "Your presentation this morning was really on-target with the board's concerns.")
© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2012
Aug 13, 2012
Aug 1, 2012
WOW Word of the Week: Laymanize
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
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
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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