Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[ahinton]

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".

I'm not so sure that "choice" is a necessary element in the customer/provider relationship. If you couldn't get what you wanted unless you bought it from me, you'd have no choice other than to be my customer or not to be one at all by deciding not to proceed with the purchase.

Benefit claimants are, I agree, perhaps a grey area at least to the extent that many would be unable to get their benefits or sums equivalent thereto from any source other than the state although, even then, the crucial word is "many"; those in receipt of certain (though not all, of course) medical based benefit payments could choose (if they could afford to) to have them paid via private insurance and some of those who receive pensions might choose to have them rather than state retirement benefit if they don't have sufficient qualifying payments for the latter. Furthermore, state benefit claimants are at least claimants by reason of having "requested" them by applying successfully for them. Also, the recent Starbucks / Amazon et al débâcle demonstrates that, to some extent, taxation is a competitive international market in which, for some companies and individuals, tax can be a matter of choice for some companies and individuals at least in terms of the country in which they elect to pay it - and I'm not even referring specifically only to deliberate tax avoidance measures for their own sake but to individuals who divide their time between homes in more than two countries and are obliged by law to make a choice as to the country in which the elect to pay tax.

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.

As in "lead us not into clichesque temptation, but deliver us from management buzzwords", peut-être? (scotty will like that one, I'm sure!)...

[ahinton]

And ‘delivering outcomes’, which seems to mean ‘doing something’ in English.

I agree that this is rather daft - or at the very least implicitly tautological - for an outcome is by definition an end result of something whereas a delivery itself involves an outcome.

I wonder whether it was originally a technical term of midwifery?

Or possibly even something that Stonewall might be well placed to clarify...

[Sydney Grew]

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

Close; its first recorded use is in the "sex industry."

[Deckerd]

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

We had a email come round the University a few years ago with a list of words which "shouldn't be used", including all of the above as well as "client" and indeed "stakeholder". After exhausting all possibilities, we worked out that the only word not on the list was "punter", so I emailed everyone to let them know.

[mercia]

it's useful to be a stakeholder if you're a vampire hunter

ho-ho I nearly laughed

[Serial_Apologist]

it's useful to be a stakeholder if you're a vampire hunter

ho-ho I nearly laughed

We all got the point...

[Nick Armstrong]

We all got the point...

Have a heart!

Actually, I saw yesterday a photo of one of the 'vampire hunting kits' that were prepared for superstitious travellers to eastern Europe in the late 19th century, following the publication of Mr Stoker's oeuvre...



I need to acquire one at auction for use at the next department meeting when someone utters the "S" word....

"Hold THIS!!!!!".... *hammer blow*

[teamsaint]

Stakeholder pensions.
Whatever happened to them ?

[EdgeleyRob]

Baroqueing and rolling.

It had to happen I suppose.

[Padraig]

[QUOTE=Caliban;267187][COLOR="#0000FF"]Have a heart! QUOTE]

Those Christians again! They have it in for vampires too!
That sucks,

[LeMartinPecheur]

Stakeholder pensions.
Whatever happened to them ?

If you are seeking discreet but cheap accomodation for vampire-hunters, Thomas Cook Transsylvania will be pleased to oblige I'm sure

[teamsaint]

If you are seeking discreet but cheap accomodation for vampire-hunters, Thomas Cook Transsylvania will be pleased to oblige I'm sure

nothing wrong with a budget stopover.....

[Nick Armstrong]

"It's extremely difficult to interpret"

= a new elaborate way of saying "I haven't the foggiest" in live TV broadcasts.

"Interpret" as a posh version of "have a clue"

Actually it's funny rather than tooth-edge endangering.

[Pabmusic]

"It's extremely difficult to interpret"

= a new elaborate way of saying "I haven't the foggiest" in live TV broadcasts.

"Interpret" as a posh version of "have a clue"

Actually it's funny rather than tooth-edge endangering.

I think it's slightly worse. By acknowledging that "interpretation" is needed but then implying that you (the figurative you, that is) cannot do that, it points to a personal failing in a way that - surprisingly - "I haven't a clue" doesn't.

[Flosshilde]

What's happened to 'blown away'? A few years ago it seemed to be the favoured expression for someone wanting to say that they were a bit surprised, or that they found something not bad. It seems to have disappeared (for which I'm very thankful)