Is it just me or is everyone speaking gobbledygook?
During a recent Whatsapp exchange an interesting conversation arose in which a pal was talking about the fact that by 6.30am most mornings he had already made a coffee and set about his outstanding tasks for the day.
"Enough already with the virtue signalling" came a reply.
Having considered this for a moment I then enquired - "what does that mean - ie what is virtue signalling?" ... to which the response came back "It's the language of WOKE - grandad"
Language is changing, vocabulary is changing - and people just aren't speaking plain English.
My son's generation seem to have dispensed with the need for prepositions all together - "I am going to the pub now" - seems to have morphed into simply "I'm going pub now".... what's that all about?
Clarity is vital and making sure everyone understands what you are saying or writing is fundamental to just about everything in business and in life.
Vocabulary is changing too. Are you aware of just how many words that are now common parlance weren't even words a few years ago. Words like sexting, unfriend, selfie, woke, vlog, bromance, staycation, LOL, photobomb, emoji, fomo, upcycle ..... the list is endless - I am sure you could think of loads.
The meaning of words is changing too. Words like chill, snowflake, ghost, bump, cloud, handle .... there are many examples - especially for words associated with technology or slang.
Language always evolves and words do appear and disappear or change - for example in 15th Century England a good looking person might be referred to as 'snoutfair' ... not a term that would catch on now.
Slang can be devisive because you either get it or you don't and if you don't you're not included in the messaging. It is also considered inappropriate in many business settings
Jargon disassociates people and can make you seem like you are trying to impress with your depth of knowledge which can switch those who don't know what you are talking about - totally off.
And as for punctuation .... "punctuation is the difference between knowing your sh*t and knowing you're sh*t"
So keep it simple, say what you mean, use plain language and always apply the maxim - less is more!
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