WEBVTT - Why We Hate Office Jargon So Much 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.320 I'm al Franken Center from Minnesota. The jargon word I 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:09.240 hate hearing in hearings is uh. It's another tool in 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:13.520 my tool belt. It means nothing. And that's why I 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:27.680 welcome to game Plan, a show about our lives at work. 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.920 I'm Rebecca Greenfield, a reporter at Bloomberg, where I cover 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.520 workplace culture, and I'm Francesco Leavie, editor of the game 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:38.120 Plan section of bloomberg dot com. Today we're talking about jargon, 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.360 the much hated empty phrases we're all guilty of using 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.479 when we talk to our coworkers. Later, we'll talk to 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.720 Sarah Schaeffer, a comedian who has had a variety of jobs, 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.680 including a five year stint at a law office, which 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.360 served as the inspiration for her web series Day Job. 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:57.520 But before we hear from her, a little background on jargon. Yeah, 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:00.200 so you did. You've done some research on this, and 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.920 you have actually delved into the history of some of 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.399 the earliest jargon. Yeah, I went deep on jargon. But 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:10.840 before getting to the way back when, let's start with 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:15.240 an actual definition from Oxford Dictionaries, which says jargon is 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:18.520 special words or expressions that are used by a particular 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:21.919 profession or group and are difficult for others to understand. 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:26.080 I thought that last caveat was really important. So that's 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.240 what makes it jargon is that it excludes people who 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.160 are outside of that industry or a group that uses 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:35.160 those words. Kind of Yeah, it's it's meaningless to other 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:37.959 people who aren't in that group, because I think every 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.479 industry has its own terms, and sometimes you really need 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:42.520 those terms. You can't really do your job if you 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:44.560 don't have special definitions for some of the things you do. 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.880 But that's not exactly jargon, right, There's another Like, the 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.440 thing when we talk about jargon that makes us really 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:54.640 angry is that it feels like it's words that we 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:56.560 don't really need to be using. We just kind of 0:01:56.600 --> 0:01:59.600 want to. Yeah, it's words, but when you think about them, 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.840 it's like, what does that actually mean? But when you're 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.520 using them, you you think you sound pretty good. So 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.440 some of the favorites I think. I think the easiest 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.080 one to make fun of is definitely synergy, right, because 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.880 it sounds really stupid. Yeah, and it really doesn't mean 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.320 much at all. Yeah, I don't, I don't know what 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:21.200 it means. It's I mean, these words become like so 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:23.919 broad that it could have meant something at one time 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:27.480 in somebody's head, but the definition is not widely shared 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:30.080 among everybody that uses it. Yeah, if I hear someone 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:34.400 say the word synergy, I immediately stopped taking them seriously, 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:37.040 which is the opposite of what jargons should do. But 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.640 they're there are less kind of nefarious ones. I would say, 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.400 circle back, I see I just heard that yesterday, touch base. 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:45.760 I don't know what are some of the ones you 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.640 hear a lot. I will circle back and touch base 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:52.800 definitely are common. They're the I think the newer jargon 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:55.960 word is the more you're like, really, why am I 0:02:56.040 --> 0:03:00.480 hearing this? Like one of the ones I hate is learnings, 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.680 which is like a word that there's already a word for, 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:09.360 which is lessons, And learning sounds stupid. It sounds like 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.560 you're not really grasping the English language that well. It 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.840 sounds kind of like something a preschool teacher might say, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:19.639 like it's learning's time exact. But a lot of people 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.720 emerge from meetings with key learnings that they want to 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.200 share with you. And the amazing thing is that, like 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:27.959 among a certain set, or at least among the people 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:29.440 who are saying these things. They must think it makes 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:32.760 them sound really smart. There's a lot of sports metaphors, 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:37.760 like what touch base? That is a sports metaphors, ramp 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.120 up a sports medal, I think so right, like rev up, 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:45.920 I don't know rev up. People say let's run it 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.760 up the flagpole and see who salutes. I've never heard 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:50.960 the second half of that. I've heard run it up 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.240 the flagpole. Well everybody knows. Maybe you don't even need 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.280 to say the second part anymore because it's so self explanatory, right, 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:00.480 just running total f and then obviously someone will salute 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:04.200 after it's been run up. There's a formal salute remaining 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:09.680 where that's mentioned. But yeah, so jargon goes back way back. Um, 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:11.440 some of my research says it goes back to the 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.080 sixteen hundreds and you had, like you, you had an 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.839 original definition of jargon, which is pretty fitting. Oh yeah, 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:19.880 the word jargon, before it was used and the way 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.240 we use it now, came from the French word for 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.520 birds twittering. Do you know the French word? No, I 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:33.640 do not speak French. Please don't play that on the show, please. Uh. 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:39.159 But yeah, it started through letter writing people back in 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:42.760 the days when they were traveling by ship to ship things. 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:46.320 They would write letters to their business partners, and people 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:50.200 just started using jargon to sound business e and convey 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.800 certain things. And then people saw those letters and thought 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.240 that's what you had to do, and so they continued 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.839 using that jargon, which I think is how jargon gets perpetuated. 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:03.400 Like I see an email from a boss right saying 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.000 something and I don't. I just it makes you feel 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.279 like you should be using that word or phrase. I 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.159 think it's a little bit subconscious. It's not like, oh, 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:14.480 that's a smart person word, but it just gets downloaded 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.400 into my brain. Yeah. I love the idea that it's 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:19.599 been around for so long that like the idea of 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.119 people getting behind this veil of talking in a certain 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.560 way isn't new at all. And it isn't necessarily about 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:28.640 all the extra time we have at work to waste, 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:32.680 or you know, new technologies, or all the usual suspects 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.799 that we blame workplace culture things on like that. People 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:38.920 have always been doing this. Yeah, and I wonder if 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.839 email has made it slightly more prevalent, because it's kind 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:46.240 of like letter writing. It is letter writing, so you 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:48.960 see these words more often. You're using these words more often, 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:52.880 and I definitely see jargon a lot in emails. I 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.080 think the thing about jargon is, as you said earlier, 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.800 it's kind of a way to exclude people who aren't 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:01.159 a part of your group. What's interesting is that the 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:04.039 words we've been talking about, like circle back and touch 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:08.080 base are kind of generic office words, but actually every 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.920 industry has its own sub jargon, like there's it's almost 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.240 like there's languages and there's dialects. And I actually prepared 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.480 a short quiz for you, Becca, I don't worry. It's 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:22.280 very short. It's like winning well things right. Well, I'm 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:24.359 going to give you some very easy words that you 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:29.440 should have heard. English words. Nothing crazy. They have definitions, 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.000 so I'll just read them off and you can tell 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:33.720 me what they mean. Are you going to tell me 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:37.440 what industry they come from. I'm just going to give 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.919 you a word that I'm gonna do a word, and 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.839 you tell me what you think that word means based 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.440 on your experience as a human being living in the world. Okay, 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:52.200 got it? Okay, I'm ready? What Becca? Is a locust? 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:59.640 A locust? I mean a bug? One of the ten plagues? Good, 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:05.360 the passover? Later? Okay, I haven't. I mean context, right, 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:09.720 That's what I look locust is. I think to most people, 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.120 a locust is a type of bug. But in the 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:19.400 nonprofit fundraising world, locusts are charitable donors who only give 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:24.520 once every seven years. That is so specific and yet 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.480 so meaningless. I mean, it has a meaning, so it's 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:31.200 not completely meaningless. But so you know, a bunch of 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:34.840 fundraising folks sitting around over drinks can just laugh in 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:36.760 sortal about locusts, and you're going to think that they're 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:39.240 talking about a biblical plague. Okay, this is a word 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:41.280 that you might actually not use that much in normal 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:47.560 English language, but you've heard it. Reconstitution, free constitution. Obviously 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:52.360 it means to write the constitution again, and it's used 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:56.200 by legal scholars. Am I right? I feel like your 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:58.320 ambition is getting the better of you a little. I 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.680 don't really think you should try to game the quiz back, 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:05.440 because it's not a reconstitution. This is a word I 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:10.280 actually got from. This is a public education word, and 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:12.840 I actually got it from the Virginia Department of Ed, 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:17.320 which publishes an entire glossary of terms. Because education is 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:19.640 so thick with jargon that you know, you're in trouble 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.360 when you need a glossary. Yeah, and it is for 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:25.400 a school rated accreditation denied. It is a process to 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:29.600 initiate a range of accountability actions to improve pupil performance 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:33.679 and to address deficiencies and curriculum and instruction may include, 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:38.160 but is not limited to, restructuring a school's governance, instructional program, staff, 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:42.120 or student population. So that is reconstitution in the Virginia 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.439 Department of Education. That is a lot of definition. Yeah, 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.320 for one word, Yeah, I feel like if you're if 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:50.520 you're getting reconstituted, it's not a good thing. But I'm 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:54.000 not entirely sure. It does sound bad. Yeah, Okay, here's 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:56.320 the final one. It's a fun one. What is a 0:08:56.320 --> 0:09:03.360 cast member? Somebuddy who as part of an ensemble? Were 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.400 you ever a cast member? No, you never did any theater, 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.400 and I was not. I was not gifted in that way. 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.160 I wasn't. I can see you in Pirates of Penn Dance. 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.160 I had some theater kid friends. I thought's as close 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.160 as I got. I was inquired. Okay, you were one 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.559 of those kids. Yeah, that's fun. I like singing. Well, 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.040 if you wanted to be a cast member, now, it 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:29.319 would mean that you were actually a sales employee at 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:33.240 the cosmetics chain Sophora. That is what they call they're 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:37.160 on the floor sales staff cast members. They're not salespeople, 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.360 they're not rouge hawkers. No, you are a cast member. 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:44.080 I think it's a foora because you are putting on 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:48.640 a beautiful show for the world. I guess we're acting 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:53.880 out the consumer's wildest makeup fantasies. The people at Separa 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:58.559 are very nice, so so maybe so maybe that's maybe 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.000 that's a great way to end the quiz because that 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:04.720 is a big thumbs up plus one for dargon. The 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:07.600 fact that they're called cast members makes them love their 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:09.880 jobs so much that they're really nice. We should ask 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:13.920 them about that for asserting that claim. But yeah, fair enough. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.719 Now that we know where jargon comes from and how 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:18.600 it plays into office life, I think it's a good 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.719 time to introduce our guest, Sarah Schaeffer, who perfectly chronicled 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:34.719 office life in day Job. Hey, Fred, Sarah, Sarah the comedian, 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:38.520 tell me a joke. Can you even believe that? Meaning 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.640 you gotta put that in your act. You're a comedian, 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:44.599 Tell me one of your jokes. If you're looking for 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:50.440 new material. This place is a zoo. Any plans tonight? 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:52.680 So you got any plans this weekend? Yeah? I have 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:56.120 a show exciting. What do you want with that? Performing 0:10:56.120 --> 0:11:00.079 at Carolines Where Carolines? I love Carolines. No, it's a 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.600 three minutes set in a basement underneath an adult DVD 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:08.800 shopping Queen's Oh similar. Sarah's a writer and comedian. She 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:12.520 has worked for MTV Jimmy Fallon, writing questions for Who 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:14.760 Wants to Be a Millionaire, and has a new comedy 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:19.199 album out, Chrysalis. She also spent five years calculating damages 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:22.280 for securities fraud cases at a law firm, which was 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.760 the inspiration for that clip you just heard and many 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.360 other funny ones just like it about the banality of 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:30.040 office life. Sarah, thanks so much for coming and talking 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:33.480 to us today. Thank you for having me So, Sarah, 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.480 what made you decide to turn your five years working 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:39.960 at a law firm into a web series? Um? Well, 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.120 it happened. Um you know, I made the web series 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:45.200 many years later, And I kind of find that to 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:47.760 be the case with a lot of my comedy and 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:49.959 stuff I write, is that it takes a long time 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.200 to incubate in my head my life experiences, and then 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:57.000 they come out many years later, and once I've gotten distance, 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.240 and I find I can find the funny in it. 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:02.280 But it I had been hosting this MTV show where 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.240 I was like doing jokes about Justin Bieber and like 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.040 really light fun stuff, and I wanted to show my 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:12.760 sort of darker, deeper, more subtle side, and this web series, 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.959 I just wanted to show the moments of what it's 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.160 like to have a day job when you're aspiring to 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:22.559 do something creative. And I think for a lot of comedians, 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:25.920 their story is like, oh, I couldn't keep a job, 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.079 you know, I was just such a misfit I had 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.160 to do comedy. And that wasn't the case for me. 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.320 I was actually really good at my job, and I 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:36.040 kept getting promotions and I was making good money and 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.480 I had stability, and it was it was a constant 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.480 battle every day to fight the urge to just settle 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.840 into my cubicle. The job I had was not creative 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:48.959 at all. It was numbers, it was law, legal stuff. Right. 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:51.720 I love the idea that you like, couldn't help but 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:55.640 be good at this job. Well, I'm amazing well, and 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.040 that you know, and that somehow kind of went against 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:01.560 your identity as a comedian or you know, a creative person. 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.120 I think you're right. People have take pride in their 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.960 war stories when they're in a creative field about just 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:09.520 slogging through a day job. And we've been talking about 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:13.000 how people use This episode is specifically about jargon. We've 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.080 been talking about how people use it as a way 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:19.840 to be more included or feel more part of a group. 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:22.720 And you working in an office and kind of wrestling 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:27.240 with what your identity was as a totally competent law 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.880 firm professional versus a creative person, a comedian, someone who 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.559 wants to express themselves in a totally different way. How 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:37.600 did you find yourself dealing with those questions about belonging 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:39.600 Did you want to belong to the office. Did you 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.959 find yourself kind of slipping into the lingo or the 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:44.880 kind of way use of the office, or did you 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.280 really resist it? The jargon there was it was very specific. 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:50.880 What we did was so niche. I think some of 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.000 a lot of it was like email stuff, like the 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:56.400 jargon and emails always like drove me crazy, Like when 0:13:56.480 --> 0:14:00.040 someone would send an email that was passive, aggressive of 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:03.440 and mean scolding or something, and then sign it with 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:12.720 like best best uneas against best the worst and you know, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.880 we need to drill down, like they were kind of 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:18.360 like we need to drill down and then we need 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.080 to have the blue sky view of this, you know, 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:24.200 like all those terms that are just so I felt 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:27.040 it came from men, mostly, like I felt that interesting 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:29.800 men would spout these things a lot because they would 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:33.600 it would make them sound like they were really knowledgeable 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.160 or you know, on top of whatever we were talking about. 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:40.520 But um, it all just drove me crazy, you know, 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:43.560 all of it. Is there any upside to jargon, like 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:45.800 where there are there moments where you're ever thankful for 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.320 having those words at your disposal? Or are they really 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.760 just extra words we don't need to be using. You know, 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:54.800 My work now, especially is writing, and I've always been 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:58.320 a writer, and I've always taken great care in wanting 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.720 to say things a clear really, because that's you know, 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.800 as a stand up comedian, you can say anything as 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.520 long as you're clear. The point is to make people laugh, 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:10.200 and the point is to make people feel good. And 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.720 there's a big debate in comedy right now about language 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:16.840 and about what can we say and will the outrage 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.080 machine come after you if you say the wrong thing 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:22.480 that's offensive and PC culture and all this stuff. You know, 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:25.160 you're trying to be clear and you're trying to get 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.520 everybody to get on your boat, like whatever it is 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.920 you're selling at work, like is it your status, is 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.240 it your the project you're trying to get through, or 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:36.840 is it the tone the environment? Like all whatever it 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.880 is you're trying to obtain in your work environment, you 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:43.040 have to use your language to get people on board 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:46.000 with you. I feel like the perfect jargon for that is, um, 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:49.720 what the road show? Go around the office and you 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:51.440 or you know, there's other ways to use it, but 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:53.320 the way I would always think of road show is 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:55.960 like you go around the office and get everybody on 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.640 board with your plan like whatever, Like here's how I 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.960 think we should tackle the jing get his cape, you know, 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:06.600 and then that's your road show. Um, and those jargon 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.280 E things help get there faster because it's the language 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:14.240 we all speak. And people don't like that in particular 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.520 because they can see through it. It seems so fake 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.320 because it's a special art. If you know, you have 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:22.280 to be very subtle about it, and a friend of 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.920 mine who's a linguist, said that the reason people find 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:30.080 jargons so grading is the same reason we find people 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.080 who come back from abroad and say where it's like 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:39.120 croissant grading it's croissant. Yeah, I know, Francisco pronounces it 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:43.960 like that. Every every time you're kind of performing this 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:47.360 this act and people think it's phony, Well, it's cliche, 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:49.520 it's unoriginal, And that's what I started to say. It 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.960 was like, in my work, it's very important to me 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.280 to say things in a way that is both clear 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:58.600 and unique. You know, there's always a way I whenever 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.000 I'm writing something, I mean like, there's a different way 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.600 we can say this. This is hitting me as hackey 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.840 or cliche. So for me, it's very important to be original. 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:09.960 So I would get very annoyed with people who are 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:12.960 just lazy. It felt like laziness, like I think, because 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:17.520 you're worrying better, you know, battle against cliches and journalism. Um, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.040 It's it's interesting because you're talking about how comedians talk 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.160 to audiences and how you have to think about your 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.520 word choice and make it as clear and original as possible. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:31.720 How do comedians talk to each other like, I'm sure 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:34.960 it's so annoying. I get very annoyed by it. Can 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.480 you give us some example? Yeah, Especially it's especially annoying 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:42.080 when you encounter I have a friend of mine who's 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:45.880 started stand up recently, which comedians joke like, oh, there's 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.439 nothing more annoying than a new comedian, Like when I've 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:51.360 been doing it for like fourteen years now, and like 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.000 there's an it's like you can't help it. It's because 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.600 they start using the jargon and it's like you're not 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:58.800 And it's that going back to that inclusive thing. It's 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:00.800 like you're not quite in with us yet because you've 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:03.800 only been doing this for a hot second and now 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.159 you're you know, going up, Going up is what you 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:09.679 say when you you're going to go up on stage 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:12.560 and perform, like going up tonight, I'm going up tonight. 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:17.480 Like there's another phrase, and this is an inside joke 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.159 with comedians, which is who books that? Which is we 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.600 joke that it's an annoying thing but everyone does it, 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:27.760 which is you find out, Oh, I'm going up at 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:30.720 the clubhouse tonight or whatever venue you might be doing. 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.800 Oh it's a good show. Oh who books that? And 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.040 it's the other comedian wanting to know who books it 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.320 so they can get on it too. And so now 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:40.960 it's this joke where like comedians will just post a 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.560 picture of like I recently posted a like seal beach 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:48.480 in Lahalla, California, Like I posted a picture of these 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:50.680 seals and all these people looking, and I just wrote 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:54.200 who books that? Because it's like everyone's always asking who 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:55.800 books that? How do I get ahead? How do I 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:58.160 get on it? And that's so funny because I would 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.480 have thought comedians just sit around, like cutting right through 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.480 the crap. Well, we use the jargon to cut through, 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.960 like you know who books that? Is a joke making 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.200 fun of comedians that do that, even though we all 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:11.040 know we've done that and you have to do that 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.800 otherwise you would not get ahead. You hear these words 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:17.880 and they sound particularly annoying, like comedian jargon sounds particularly 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:22.680 annoying coming from rookies, and it's that sort of phony 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:27.679 sounding thing hard right exactly make it all look effortless. 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.800 But at the same you need to use those words, 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:32.720 which is maybe a good time for me to say 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:36.280 that sometimes I like using jargon. I will admit it. Yeah, 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.560 Beck is a jargon fan. I'm not a fan, but 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:42.680 I think it can be useful and easy and like, 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:44.480 if you're in the club, you know what I'm saying. 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.120 So maybe I'm being a bit of like a snob. Yeah, 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:50.600 I mean I think we've talked about examples of totally 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:56.400 useless jargon and maybe slightly more useful jargon. We did, 0:19:56.440 --> 0:20:00.600 actually we did a jargon quiz earlier that might be 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:03.399 fun to do with you. What do you think? So 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:08.240 this is like, these are just words collected from people 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:12.439 in various industries, resources in various industries that are English 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:14.879 words that you would recognize, and I just want you 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:19.240 to tell me what they mean. Okay, Okay, Revert I 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:22.720 mean go back to the original version or go backwards 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:27.879 various in sinct in finance, revert when used in the 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:32.040 phrase revert to you, it just means get back to you. Yes, 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:38.480 that's terrible, isn't that? There's something so skincrawlling about it? Oh, 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:41.520 I just I can picture the guy saying that, like 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:46.760 him fun of me growing up. It's designed to like 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:54.760 confuse you. Okay. Activation, Oh jeez, I'm already annoyed. Whatever 0:20:54.800 --> 0:21:01.959 this is for, I'm annoyed. Activation putting a plan into action. Um, 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:04.720 some kind of making that sound like something that does 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:07.480 sound like what it should be. It's actually a noun 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:13.560 used in the world of museums and curator types that 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:18.879 means a semi educational event. Oh my god, that's bad. 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:23.639 You would put on an activating our brains. No, you 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:25.960 have to say, oh my god, did you see Lisa 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:31.600 at the activation? What was she wearing? Lisa is really 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.639 intent on being the organizer of this conestivation, but I 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:36.639 just don't think that she I think she's kind of 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:41.120 a bit okay, and this is the last one. Thank 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:46.200 you for bearing with our quiz. Cast member. Oh man, 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:51.639 that's somebody that works at Disney. Probably no, that is 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:54.000 actually what they called him. I think cast members. I 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:57.000 feel like that's justifiable since you since you do have 0:21:57.080 --> 0:21:58.919 to do some acting singing a day. So when you 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:01.159 clean up, when you clean up a piece of paper 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:04.560 the moment it's dropped like you and you act like 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:08.800 you enjoy it. Yeah, that's a performance. It's performative. It's 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:13.000 also what sales people who work the floor at Sephora 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:17.760 the cosmetics change are referred to. You know what I 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:21.200 heard about made well, which I love love Made wells products. 0:22:21.760 --> 0:22:25.280 Made well has a rule if you work their minimum 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:29.720 five layers. I'm not kidding. I'm not joking, my friend. 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:32.639 You got to work that out. It's got to be 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:37.879 two or three to five layers. But yeah, So basically 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:43.040 every single industry has its jargon. And I was thinking, like, 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:46.000 my family has jargon. That's amazing. Yeah, I mean you 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:50.880 have jargon. I think I think jargon is basically dorky 0:22:50.960 --> 0:22:54.680 people sling, and I think we should just we should 0:22:54.680 --> 0:22:57.080 accept it. I can accept it. I think it's if 0:22:57.119 --> 0:22:59.320