Fun with language

I may be going to law school this fall, but some part of me is still a writing teacher—specifically, a business writing teacher (at least some of the time)—and there's lots of good stuff going on these days in the wacky world of business writing. First, one of the "Big Three" accounting firms has declared war on just the kind of nonsense business-speak I spent the last four years trying to get my students to recognize, abhor, and never write again:

Deloitte Consulting admits it helped foster confusing, indecipherable words like "synergy," "paradigm" and "extensible repository," but it has decided enough is enough. It is releasing Bullfighter, a new software program to help business writers avoid jargon and use clear language.

Yay Bullfighter! Even the name is pretty straightforward. Be sure you don't miss Deloitte's own speil about its new program—you can even take it for a test drive or download it yourself (if you use Windows 2000 or XP). And best of all, send an ecard to all your friends who are full of bull!

Yeah, this is going to take the business world by storm. Not. But hey, at least now we know that some business people know they write nonsense, and as GI Joe always said, "Knowing is half the battle!"

For still more fun with corporate America using language as if they're just making it up (wait! they are!), check out this exchange between Coca-Cola and a former English teacher. And remember to treat yourself well. Ordinary. Drink Dasani bottled water. ;-)

Stuff like this almost makes me wish I was going to teach business writing again this fall. (Wait. Did I really write that? What I really meant was I think it's time for more Playstation....)

Posted June 19, 2003 07:36 AM | life generally