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I recently participated in a marketing research exercise for a corporate employee web portal. One of the options was something like My Talent Profile or Your Job Search or something. Can't you already see the memo that comes out instructing the employee to "Go to your My Talent Profile page … ?" My feedback sailed mightily to the battle, completely circumnavigating George Carlin's seven words.
I can't tell you how much I hate things that are named with a built-in personal pronoun. Yes, I hate My Little Pony, I shudder to mention the name. It makes me say horrible things, like "Is this your My Little Pony or her My Little Pony?"
I am usually calm enough to deal with things that have a built-in the, but around us we have a The Bank. I just wrote " … a The Bank." See what I mean? These names drive me to do insane things. I can't just say or write "Go to a Bank," can I? I have to say "Go to a The Bank."
Sure, I enjoy both Shakespeare's The Tempest and Irving's A Prayer For Owen Meany. But book titles give you the polite option of leaving off the The or the A. I could even put my Prayer For Owen Meany on the shelf right next to your Tempest and nobody would think we were authors, clergy, or meteorologists.
But these spawn of marketing demons are designed to resist such easy solutions. Who are these people who do such things? Reincarnated inquisitors and Nazis?
Glenn said:
But these spawn of marketing demons are designed to resist such easy solutions. Who are these people who do such things? Reincarnated inquisitors and Nazis?
Or, were inquisitors and Nazis first marketing demons?
I am within two weeks of having to work my mouth around these constructions. I am the chair of our college's Scholastic Appeals committee. At the end our our interview, I have to tell the appellant, "The results of our deliberations will be posted on the your My Missouri State account."
Emmett
I feel the same way. Even on my PC, Microsoft labels things such as "My Computer" and "My Documents."
Philosophically, I wonder if this is related to the "Me Generation" and what seems to be a growing self-centeredness in our world. But that discussion could result in some very long posts, so I'll limit myself to this sentence.
I remember thinking how silly the "My Documents" et al were when I first moved from Windows 3.x with its "File Manager" and "Program Manager", and was told that it was impossible to change the names to something less childish.
When I finally did learn of a way to rename "system folders", my first act was to change "My Computer" to "My Widdle Computsey-Wootsey".
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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