A Greencastle, Indiana, caller is bothered when his colleagues talk about servicing a customer–and with good reason. Servicing a client has long been associated with prostitution. Serving a client is a better phrase. This is part of a complete...
When writing a business letter, what’s a modern salutation that doesn’t sound as stuffy as “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam”? “To Whom It May Concern,” perhaps? The answer depends on the context and the...
With the idiom “it’s all downhill from here,” the meaning depends on the context. With an optimistic tone, it means that something’s heading toward an inevitably good ending, but there are times in business uses where it...
Erin in Cambridge, Wisconsin, says her Southern boss uses sheep-dip for bringing someone into a process, as in “We are going to sheep dip you right down on in here.” Actual sheep dipping moves sheep through a chemical bath to kill insects and...
Remember getting caught sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G? Grant and Martha wax nostalgic on some classic schoolyard rhymes. What do you call your offspring once they’ve grown up? Adult children? How about kid-ults? Plus, is there really such a...
Do the verb phrases share out and explain out have a special, nuanced meaning in the worlds of business and education? Or are they jargon to be avoided? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Business and Educational Jargon”...