{"id":13850,"date":"2024-11-29T02:51:04","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T07:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/?p=13850"},"modified":"2024-12-28T23:49:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T04:49:57","slug":"terms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/index.php\/2024\/11\/29\/terms\/","title":{"rendered":"Terms of Endearment"},"content":{"rendered":"
Position: 45\u00b031’07.3″N 122\u00b040’58.4″W<\/a><\/h6>\n

\"sailing-terms\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nautical terminology is highly specific. When the captain calls out, \u201cDouble the starboard bow line and tie it off on the starboard bow cleat, then release the port breast lines\u201d, there isn’t room for interpretation. It is a specific order, with a series of clear steps, issued in a command-and-control environment. Of course, if the crew is green (i.e, new or nauseous) the captain may have to resort to clarifying words like, \u201cNo, you bilge rats, that rope there. Yes, that one! Untie it you barnacle eating dotards! And be quick about it!\u201d<\/p>\n

If the language of sailing is cryptic, it is at least specific. Each part of the ship has a name with attendant verbs and adjectives for its proper use. It is not jargon. The vocabulary of sailing is codified knowledge, and “…codifying knowledge in agreed ways can be a serious business. Well over 1,000 passengers and crew lost their lives between 1976 and 2000 in accidents where misunderstandings over language were found to have played a role. Pilots use highly standardised and scripted terminology in order to reduce the scope for potentially fatal errors.”<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Business Speak (BS)<\/h6>\n

Compare this to business speak, a form of language designed to communicate status, not information. Take for example this phrase: \u201cBy leveraging a data-driven strategic framework that harmonizes innovative foresight with agile execution, we empower organizations to not only navigate the complexities of an evolving marketplace but also to seize transformative opportunities that drive sustainable growth and competitive advantage in real time.\u201d <\/em>There is no information in this word salad. It is a bunch of phrases strung together that the speaker believes will impress the listener. The listener is either impressed or spots the bulls*it for what it is \u2013 bulls*it. If you hang around highly paid consultants, you will hear a great deal of this kind of gibberish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Back when I had aspirations of becoming a barrister (wig and all), Alfred Lord Denning<\/a> was Master of the Rolls<\/a>[2]<\/sup><\/a>. Old Tom Denning was a rare animal in the ranks of judges. He believed that for the law to be viewed as fair, it should be clearly written and easily understood. \u201cI avoid long sentences like the plague, because they lead to obscurity. It is no good if the [reader] cannot follow them…\u201d,<\/em> he wrote. Yet, anyone with any experience with the law knows it is a profession that uses obtuse and obscure language as its moat and battlements. Lord Denning lost his fight against legal bulls*it, but thanks to his storytelling skills and plainspoken style he wrote some highly entertaining judgements. One of which, his report on the Profumo affair<\/a>, became an instant bestseller on its publication.<\/p>\n