Word Fun

Every group or clique tends to have their own set of insider words and phrases and the business community is no exception. Each of my three brothers belongs to this business world as do each of my three brothers-in-law. I don’t and while I’m comfortable talking shop, I’m not always comfortable talking with the same shop lingo. I’ve tried from time to time but the words just don’t feel right in my mouth and end up sounding forced. It’s like when hear suburban white kids using rap lingo in their conversation, they know the words yet still, it just doesn’t feel quite right.

My business world friends use terms like, “Hey man, I gotta bounce so I’ll talk to you later,” or maybe, “I hear you but do me a favor and just shoot me an email on that.” These are insider terms reserved for those inside the business community.

I was visiting one of my brothers a while back and we were sitting around enjoying a casual conversation. This was late in the evening but the air outside was still warm so we had all the windows in his home open. His wife had two of her sisters in town as well and they, along with two additional friends rounded out the company. The conversation was casual and light, moving from updates on children to the latest news at work. At one point we even discussed the reason everyone should own an iphone. I think it was one of the sisters that brought it up saying, “I just don’t know how I lived without mine.” She decided everyone should own one and half the room agreed while the other half was definitely against the idea. We were at a standoff and the conversation moved on.

Later in the evening the other sister turned and said, “I know, we totally shouldn’t - we just can’t help ourselves.” I missed the point of the statement but when dirty little secrets come up in a conversation like that, it grabs ones attention. Then she turned her head to the side a bit and mouthed the words, “It’s a little ‘WT’,” and then she giggled. I’d never heard the term ‘WT’ and wondered if it was an abbreviation carried over from text messaging. She said it in a way that suggested a guilty pleasure so it took me awhile to figure out it’s meaning.

A few weeks later my neighbor used the ‘WT’ thing while referring to some toys strewn across his front lawn. As in “Look at my front yard. We’re totally ‘WT’.” While his use of the term was more obvious in it’s reference, by this time it wouldn’t have mattered, as I was already hip to its meaning.

I’ve been keeping my eye out for ways to throw this newly found term into a conversation and sometimes practice it to myself in my car on the way to work. I can’t quite make it come out right and worry it’ll come across sounding forced or contrived. “Do I mouth it like my brother’s sister-in-law turning my head for effect or do I just throw it out like it’s no big deal the way my neighbor did? I wonder.” I think I’ll have to practice it a bit more but for now, brother, I gotta bounce.

Any terms you find funny?