Catch you later

In an attempt to seek her opinion, I sent an article to a colleague and in return got a short message or should I say mini message just consisting of three letters GTG. Not exactly in tune with the latest trends in languages, I kept wondering what these three letters imply.

Finally, I approached the colleague concerned and asked, “What do you think”. I told you so in my message, she retorted, and then it dawned upon me that her GTG really was a slang for the answer I was seeking. What she was saying was it is “Good to go”.

This is slang now, a popular form of speech that has a long history going back as far as 1756 when the use of such words was considered to be the vocabulary of the underdogs in society, but their use anyway continued to be in usage below the level of standard speech. Now they have not only survived the passage of time, but in fact are a popular form of conversation and sometimes more relevant than the regular language format.

Why are slangs so popular? Mainly because, unlike regular languages, they harbour almost an entire universe in one word. My favourite is “Chill”. This is a slang with such depth of meaning that it can describe almost any situation. Weather-wise it describes climatic conditions and emotion-wise it opens a whole panorama of choices encompassing everything from global conflicts to personal relations.

How much better our world would be if some of the warring leaders in the world learned to chill and thus bring to a halt the death and destruction unleashed upon innocent people. I can just imagine a powerful and authoritative secretary general of the UN asking all parties to chill and enforcing his command through whatever force is required.

Another word in the same vein is “cool”. This could mean awesome, or very good and even great. This might also mean something that others admire. A cool outfit means an outfit to be admired, and not necessarily providing you relief from a hot summer.

Slang varies from region to region and area to area. There is different slang in different parts of the USA and then something entirely different in Europe and Asia, and then there is business slang which stands apart from the crowd and is generally known as “corporate jargon”.

Words that are almost exclusively used in business and hard to understand by people not familiar with a business environment. Take for example the question: “What do you bring to the table?”. An ordinary person would be bewildered, wondering if he or she were expected to bring a present for board members interviewing them for a job. Not exactly the right assumption.

What the board is asking is how much experience do you have and what are your major achievements, and how do you expect to add value to the position for which you have applied. Once in the company, you realize you have to learn a lot more before you can completely understand corporate jargon. Soon you will start receiving requests for some work marked ASAP.

Just like I failed to understand GTG, you will wonder what it means. Simple answer is “As Soon as possible”. In the spoken version it is even more complicated as your colleague or superior will only say A SAP leaving those unfamiliar with this jargon just wondering Another important jargon new entrants to the corporate world have to understand early in life is “deliverables”.

This is perhaps the most important of all jargons, as it reflects the commitments you have made and the time space in which you have to deliver them. Game changer is the ultimate in corporate jargon. Something everyone aspires to be. Changing the fortunes of the company or department under your leadership.

The world of slang and corporate jargon is a fascinating world, which gives new meanings to old words and phrases. As far as slang is concerned, it has grown with the advent of Internet, while previously it mainly relied on popular music and politics. Throughout history, slang has slowly developed to finally find acceptance in communities and groups where it was previously rejected. So much for slang and corporate jargon, and as another popular slang would describe my feelings right now. Catch you later.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024