To Coyne A Phrase
Language barriers
THE trend in using acronyms such as LOL (lots of laughs), TMB (text me back) and PDA (public display of affection) on texts and social media sites has led to many old timers denouncing the youth of today and the impact they are having on the English language.
But the business world is no better.
I’m sure that like me you get lots of spam finding its way into your inbox from Chinese companies offering products and services. Language differences aside, they are often baffling because of the sheer number of acronyms in them.
Take this one I received this week. “You might be interested in SKF, FAG, NSK, NTN, KOYO, NACHI, TIMKEN bearings, as we got your information from internet.
We are dealing with above branded bearings with FAG/KOYO/NSK/SKF/TIMKEN.”
It would take a modern day Alan Turing to decipher that one.
But it’s not something unique to the Chinese. Here’s the headline from a press release I receive this week from a business closer to home: ‘PNY extends OEM operations to EMEA region’.
The serious point here, of course, is that abbreviations or acronyms should only be used if they help the communication process. If the reader is left scratching his or her head then it probably hasn’t worked.
BFN
Missing in action
HAD nobody told Holland manager Louis van Gaal that you never ask Aston Villa players to take part in penalty shoot-outs in major competitions?
Surely a little bit of research would have pointed him towards Gareth Southgate’s legendary spot kick miss against the Germans at Euro 96 which saw England eliminated at the semi-final stage.
A bit more delving might have seen him looking at the tapes of the penalty shoot-out at the quarter final stage of the Euros in 2004 when Darius Vassell’s failed attempt from 12 yards saw England knocked out by Portugal.
So for those of us who watch our football in Birmingham B6, seeing ‘Concrete’ Ron Vlaar walking from the halfway line to take Holland’s first penalty of the shoot-out against Argentina in Wednesday night’s World Cup semi-final, led to a collective intake of breath.
Will they never learn?
Business cycles
THE corporate world came together to support accountancy firm Baker Tilly raise money for the Anthony Nolan charity and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award via a series of sponsored bike rides between its network of offices.
A nice idea, the plan was that it would arrive in Leeds just before the start of the Tour de Yorkshire (as I think it is now known).
Staff from Baker Tilly’s Birmingham office cycled a 73 mile leg from their new offices in St Philips Point to Nottingham on 30 June as part of the project.
They were joined by willing participants from other companies who included Colin White, founder and joint MD of Birmingham deals advisory firm Ortus Group.
Ortus is based in the same building as TheBusinessDesk.com and bumping into Colin in the communal kitchen a few days after the event I naturally asked him how it had gone.”
“It was fine as the route was mostly flat,” he said.
“The hardest bit for me was getting up the hill in Barnt Green on the way into work.”
Have a great weekend.
