Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[johnb]

Whoops - heckle typo now corrected.

[Nick Armstrong]

Whoops - heckle typo now corrected.

One can get away with very little with the vigilant vinteuil around!

[JFLL]

‘Inappropriate behaviour’, which seems to be in the news lately. Sounds a bit Orwellian to me. (I’m not, btw, necessarily condoning the behaviour itself.)

[teamsaint]

Perfection, vinrouge!!

Ha Johnb been vindicated?

[vinteuil]

vindicated?

... (took me a moment to geddit (I blame the 'flu)) ...

.

[Nick Armstrong]

Ha Johnb been vindicated?

Ouch!

[teamsaint]

... (took me a moment to geddit (I blame the 'flu)) ...



.

get better soon, vinny. There are some shockers around this winter......hope you are showing signs of vinprovement before long.
Coat.....

[Nick Armstrong]

get better soon, vinny. There are some shockers around this winter......hope you are showing signs of vinprovement before long.
Coat.....

Quite!

[teamsaint]

Quite!

Incidentally, why are advertisers so convinced that half time in the footy is the very best time to renew or change car insurance?
my priorities tend to be beer, tea, or a sandwich.

[Nick Armstrong]

Stakeholders

Not members, participants, partners...

Stakeholders

Stakeholders

Stakeholders


Stakeholders









...



...

[Serial_Apologist]

Stakeholders

Not members, participants, partners...

Stakeholders

Stakeholders

Stakeholders


Stakeholders











...



...

Mistake holders would be more accurate, perhaps...

[mangerton]

Stakeholders

Not members, participants, partners...

Stakeholders

Stakeholders

Stakeholders


Stakeholders









...



...

Oh, I know. My organisation is awash with them. If ever I write the word, I write "steakholders". If I hear the word, I ask whether plates or forks are meant.

Similarly, everyone is now a "customer". And everything has to be "delivered", whether it's the week's groceries, or the Olympic Games.

[ahinton]

Oh, I know. My organisation is awash with them. If ever I write the word, I write "steakholders". If I hear the word, I ask whether plates or forks are meant.

Yes, the usage of the word ought indeed to be a good deal more "rare" than it is, largely because when people are described as "stakeholders" in something they usually aren't, so it's entirely misleading.

Similarly, everyone is now a "customer".

Well, no, not quite "everyone"; I understand that a customer is someone who has requested and paid for goods or services.

Take travel on public transport, for example. When, say, an air passenger is described as a customer, he/she is a customer of the airline or other organisation from which the air travel ticket is purchased but only if the intended passenger has purchased it him/herself; if someone else has purchased on his/her behalf, the purchaser is the customer even though that purchaser will not be flying. The passenger also only becomes a passenger when he/she is on the plane, so if the flight is cancelled, he/she is not a passenger until he/she boards an alternative plane and is then flown on it.

With healthcare, a patient is also a customer by virtue of a contract existing between patient and healthcare provider who is paid to treat the customer. What healthcare provider is NHS, the patient is not usually the customer as, more often than not, someone else pays the provider for the services that it provides and, if it is a private healthcare provider, the patient's insurer is the customer unless the patient is not covered by insurance, in which case the patient is the customer by reason of paying for it him/herself.

In both cases, however, irrespective of who purchased the airline ticket or pays the healthcare provider, the passenger is still the passenger provided that he/she actually makes the journey with the airline and the patient is still the patient if he/she undergoes treatment given by a healthcare provider.

In short, then the term "customer" might sometimes be used incorrectly but is not necessarily incompatible with "passenger", "patient" or whatever else.

And everything has to be "delivered", whether it's the week's groceries, or the Olympic Games.

Again, I'm not quite sure about "everything" but, since "delivery" does not necessarily involve the physical movement of goods from one place to another, I'm not convinced that the term is incompatible with the notion of the provision of services.

[mangerton]

Well, no, not quite "everyone"; I understand that a customer is someone who has requested and paid for goods or services.
In short, then the term "customer" might sometimes be used incorrectly but is not necessarily incompatible with "passenger", "patient" or whatever else.

Your point about "requested and paid" is the crux, I think. There is also the idea of "choice", in the sense that I choose to buy from you, and you choose to sell to me. What then about claimants of benefits provided by central government, or indeed taxpayers? These are all now regarded as "customers".

Again, I'm not quite sure about "everything" but, since "delivery" does not necessarily involve the physical movement of goods from one place to another, I'm not convinced that the term is incompatible with the notion of the provision of services.

Ok, but I feel it is now being widely (mis)used, and has become one of the latest management buzzwords, going forward. It's time to draw a line in the sand and move on.

[JFLL]

And everything has to be "delivered", whether it's the week's groceries, or the Olympic Games.

And ‘delivering outcomes’, which seems to mean ‘doing something’ in English. I wonder whether it was originally a technical term of midwifery?