Benefits October 23, 2006

Ever Have that Feeling of Deja Moo?

October 23, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Benefit plans have a language all-their-own, densely populated with obscure acronyms, and complicated theorems. Take that and couple it with the buzzwords that frequent business communications and in no time at all you can make a complicated subject downright unintelligible.
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So, in the interest of helping you keep up – or arming those who are fond of such “innovations”, we have a perfect web site – http://www.buzzwhack.com .

That’s where John Walston, 54, author of “The Buzzword Dictionary: 1,000 Phrases Translated From Pompous to English”, in 2000 established his Web site for buzzwords, which the site describes as “A usually important-sounding word or phrase used primarily to impress laypersons.”

Here’s a sampling:

  • Cellular Macarena
  • Déjà moo
  • A product of the Enron scandal, this new verb comes courtesy of former US Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who said, “I don’t want to Enron the American people.
  • Escape ring
  • Job spill
  • Scooby snacks
  • Vuja day

You can check out more buzzwords (it also has a reference guide for text messengers – http://www.buzzwhack.com/inside/buzzimglish.htm), and even sign up for a buzzword of the day e-mail at the site.

However, it cautions that “If you can use more than three buzzwords in a single sentence while keeping a straight face, this site is not for you.”

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