We need more words

When I talked about design of a program with one of my collaborators in the development of a system for social networking, she asked "what do you mean by program?"


Her question started me thinking about the many terms in social networking and in IT generally that have been appropriated from everyday vocabulary.

I thought we were designing a system, which to me met a way of working. system to an IT professional means hardware. I thought we were networking - each of us contributing our knowledge and experience to the whole group and involving others we knew so that we could use their expertise, too. It seems networking is done with blue cables in IT. Of course these are not the sort of cables that used to carry text messages fifty years ago. They were named after the cables that carried the message, but soon became synonymous with the piece of paper they were printed on.

According to the Global Language Monitor there are an estimated 1 million English words.

The monitor also says that there are:

• 450,000 words listed in the Merriam-Webster's 3rd International edition, according to its introduction;
• fewer than 100,000 words in the French language;
• About 50,000 ideograms in the various Chinese dialects (though countless more words);
• in the order of 7,000 human languages and dialects
• 12,143 different words of a total 787,137 words in the English version of the king James Bible,
• 8,674 different words in the Hebrew Old Testament,
• 5,624 words in the Greek New Testament;
• 24,000 differing words to be found in the complete works of Shakespeare, about 1,700 of which he invented.

Even with so many words we need to double up.

Left and right mean more than sides. Top and bottom are not just a toy and a base. Tear can be pronounced two ways, each with a different meaning.

As far I can see, the word set is the one that has the most meanings. think about it, what does it mean to you?

Place down? Collection? Harden? A series of tennis games? Prepare to run?

My favourite resource, the One Look Dictionary search found definitions in 99 dictionaries and gave 45 different meanings in their quick definitions - a feature that normally has between one and three meanings. By contrast the word system only featured in 66 dictionaries and had a mere 9 quick definitions. Reification was only found in 18 dictionaries with 2 quick definitions, while bricolage only made it into 12 dictionaries without a quick definition.

Back to the program that I thought I was designing, no it was not the booklet that lists the cast and order of events in a theatre, it was not to be broadcast on TV, it was not even computer software. It was a set of training materials.

On the subject of words, do you know why golf was given that name? All of the other four letter obscenities were already taken.

This tale did the rounds on a number of internet list serves and inspired thoughts on training, performance evaluation, selection and sundry related issues. It came to my attention through a posting from William D. Lovett, a Management and Training Consultant from Wakefield RI, who attributes it to Fred Nichols, but says that Fred believes Anonymous is the real author.


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Once upon a time, there lived a man named Clarence who had a pet frog named Felix. Clarence lived a modestly comfortable existence on what he earned working at Wal-Mart; but he always dreamed of being rich."Felix!" he exclaimed one day, "We're going to be rich! I'm going to teach you how to fly!" Felix, of course, was terrified at the prospect. "I can't fly, you idiot! I'm a frog, not a canary!" Clarence, disappointed at the initial reaction, told Felix, "That negative attitude of yours could be a real problem. I'm sending you to class."So Felix went to a three day class and learned about problem solving, time management and effective communication.... but nothing about flying.

On the first day of "flying lessons", Clarence could barely control his excitement (and Felix could barely control his bladder). Clarence explained that their apartment had 15 floors and each day Felix would jump out of a window starting with the first floor eventually getting to the top floor. After each jump, Felix would analyze how well he flew, isolate on the most effective flying techniques and implement the improved process for the next flight. By the time they reached the top floor, Felix would surely be able to fly.

Felix pleaded for his life, but it fell on deaf ears. "He just doesn't understand how important this is..." thought Clarence, "but I won't let naysayers get in my way." So, with that, Clarence opened the window and threw Felix out (who landed with a thud).

Next day (poised for his second flying lesson) Felix again begged not to be thrown out of the window. With that, Clarence opened his pocket guide to Managing More Effectively and showed Felix the part about how one must always expect resistance when implementing new programs. And with that, he threw Felix out the window. (THUD!)

On the third day (at the third floor) Felix tried a different ploy. Stalling, he asked for a delay in the "project" until better weather would make flying conditions more favourable. But Clarence was ready for him. He produced a timeline pointed to the third milestone and asked, "You don't want to slip the schedule do you?" From his training, Felix knew that not jumping today would mean that he would have to jump TWICE tomorrow. So he just said, "OK. Let's go." And out the window he went.

Now understand that Felix really was trying his best. On the fifth day he flapped his feet madly in a vain attempt to fly. On the sixth day he tied a small red cape around his neck and tried to think "Superman" thoughts. Try as he might, though, Felix couldn't fly.

By the seventh day, Felix (accepting his fate) no longer begged for mercy. He simply looked at Clarence and said, "You know you're killing me, don't you?" Clarence pointed out that Felix's performance so far had been less than exemplary, failing to meet any of the milestone goals he had set for him. With that, Felix said quietly, "Shut up and open the window". He leaped out, taking careful aim on the large jagged rock by the corner of the building. And Felix went to that great lily pad in the sky.

Clarence was extremely upset, as his project had failed to meet a single goal that he set out to accomplish. Felix had not only failed to fly, he didn't even learn how to steer his flight as he fell like a sack of cement. Nor did he improve his productivity when Clarence had told him to "Fall smarter, not harder." The only thing left for Clarence to do was to analyze the process and try to determine where it had gone wrong. After much thought, Clarence smiled and said, "Next time...... I'm going to find a smarter frog"