The New Office Lingo: 'You're so 404'

Read the following article from AsiaOne Business, and I felt so out of touch with the working world!

I mean I am still working, albeit as a freelancer, but I was working full time in a 'proper' company then. In any case, if you're working in the corporate world, test your office lingo!

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The new office lingo: 'You're so 404'
Fri, May 14, 2010
my paper

SHOULD you hear the words "you're so 404" being shouted across office cubicles and you don't know what it means, here's a hint: The three digits typically show up when a webpage you're looking for can't be found.

Meaning to say, you're "404" when you're lost and don't have a clue about what's going on.
Office workers here, especially those of multinational companies, have been eschewing cliches in recent years, opting instead to use creative mashes of Western and Singaporean terms.

For example, property agent Jasline Lim, 36, often hears and uses the term "blue-skying" - which means brainstorming with a mind as open as the blue sky - in place of the over-used "thinking outside the box".

Originating from the Western phrase "blue-sky thinking", the Singaporean spin-off has been shortened - a characteristic of home-grown lingo.

Mr Rick Ong, 30, a treasury adviser at a bank here, has come across such expressions as "ducks in a row" - where staff readily accept an idea without offering their own - and "blamestorming", a discussion to find fault rather than to solve a problem.

Some phrases, like "we need to check all the nuts and bolts of this machine", have underlying meanings. This phrase is used to call for a thorough search for the culprit of a major mistake.

Mr Ong said: "Learning such lingo makes it easier to communicate with others who use it, and I can better understand the messages that my colleagues are trying to project."

Office-speak is not new or uncommon, but due to the influx of international companies into Singapore, lingo is imported and mixed with local culture, creating new slang, said Associate Professor Francis Bond from the Division of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies at Nanyang Technological University.

He said: "The slang used here is different from that used in the West, because Singapore is a multilingual society, so sometimes we have direct translations or shorter variants."

This can be seen in some examples like "get arrowed" and "spoil market". To "get arrowed" is to be given an unfavourable assignment, and you "spoil market" by doing so well at work that your colleagues pale in comparison.

"Certain words or acronyms could have been influenced by local culture or phenomena as well," said Prof Bond.

An example is a term like "z-monster" (sleepiness). It apparently originated here among men serving their national service, but it can be found in other countries as well.


Office Lingo Glossary

Term: 404
What it means: Someone who is completely clueless
Origin: The Internet's HTTP 404 Error page, displayed when a page cannot be found
Usage: "Don't ask Jim, he's 404."

Term: Bandwidth
What it means:Ability to accept a project or idea
Origin: The capacity of online data transfer
Usage: "I don't have enough bandwidth for this project."

Term: CLM (Career-Limiting Move)
What it means: An ill-advised action that will threaten one's promotion chances
Origin: Not known
Usage: "Scolding the boss is a serious CLM."

Term: Seagull manager
What it means: A supervisor who flies in, makes a lot of noise and mess, then leaves
Origin: Neighbourhood birds that create a lot of trouble
Usage: "The seagull manager voided our entire proposal."

Term: Strategic staircase
What it means: An exaggeration of tactical steps and extra effort put in to improve performance
Origin: A staircase being a metaphor for progression
Usage: "We have planned a strategic staircase for our department."

Daily Moments

Wanted to start a photo blog some time last year but was always too lazy to upload the photos when I got home. You know, there are always better things to do!

But I finally felt like I wanted to capture moments of my life down, in pictures, in captions, for my loved ones to look at, for myself to look back.

Having succumbed to an iphone earlier this year, I eventually (and only very recently) started to snap snippets of my life and post them on facebook.

And then I also got my ass down to figure how to blog on the go, which means instead of posting on fb, I shall just post on my blog!

So below are the backdated photos. All photos are taken with my iPhone 3GS, thus please pardon the poor quality.

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22.08.2010 / Sunday

My first fried food after Dec Rains! Almost everything's fried - fries, fish and even the bread! And chilli and shiok chilled drink..
This is from the famous western food stall at Ang Mo Kio's S11 food centre. It's really good..

Met my darling brother for dinner! He said his fingers were too far away in the first photo.. So we took the 2nd photo, with his fingers closer this time.

 

I totally adore him! I finally can comprehend (somewhat) the immense love a mother has for her child, even though I'm only a sister. It's like, I want him to have the best education, the best enrichment and exposure, and basically the best things in life. I readily paid to buy cute and good books for him so he can learn spelling and reading (seriously, children's education is really a profitable market).

However, it's also a fine balance on where to draw the line and say that's enough programs for our kids! As much as we want to give them the best, how much are they enjoying the learning experience and not feel bogged down by our own expectations and desires?

Hohoho, awesome dinner we had! We ate at Chinatown's Spring Court Restaurant, 永春园。There were actually more food which we had already finished eating..

Peking duck! This was the remaining 6 pieces out of like what, almost 20? The duck's skin was sliced very thinly, with minimal fat (which is what I disliked), so I thoroughly enjoyed it! The egg skin was a little thick, so that's the only minus point.

 

 Claypot chilli crab! It was a huge pot and the pincers were humongous! The sauce is quite spicy with a tinge of sweetness, not exactly my type, but nonetheless delicious.

 

We ate so much that we had to dabao, so I brought it back for my flatmate! It's good that we get to enjoy some crabs and super shiok chill crab sauce to accompany our otherwise mundane lunch!

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23.08.10 / Monday

Hosted an event for SAF Music and Drama Company at Orchidville that night and rehearsal went on from late am.

My 小叮当 bag of snacks! I get hungry easily, thus I try to remember to bring munchies at work to keep me going! Sweets were in another compartment.

A little stressed as it's my first time doing (paid) hosting. Though it was a small cosy event, all the guests were big shots. Thank God reviews were great, and having an encouraging co-host sure made things easier! Oh yes, the decor of Orchidville's function room is very beautiful!

Rushed down for KTV after the event with some of the December Rains cast and crew!

 
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24.08.10 / Tuesday

Went to the very cosy Book Cafe @ 20 Martin Road #01-02 Seng Kee Building.

I was staying near the area for slightly more than 10 years and had thought I would frequently sit by the Singapore River with a book and/or journal, or chill out at the Book Cafe.

But I never did.

So when I went back recently and was free in the afternoon, I decided to bring the scripts I was tasked to proofread/edit to the cafe. My older brother happened to be on leave, and he decided to come along too.

That's my bro at a separate table so we won't disturb each other!

Me with the pages of script already amended. Who says there wouldn't be much changes? I found so much errors, inconsistencies and weird translation that I dog-eared every other page!

The lighting is much better than it looks on photo, but my eyes are equally strained from the small font.

Anyhow, it's a great place to chill!

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25.08.10 / Wednesday

Attended a workshop on Caring For Your Voice, by Iris Koh, from Athena Arts.

After the session, we actually had an impromptu mini concert!

I sang 关怀方式, which i forgot some lyrics here and there. Oops. 

Actually I was surprised I wasn't nervous singing in front of strangers, which I would have been a couple of months back. Match In The Ring and December Rains have indeed helped me to be confident of my voice and capabilities.

2 more participants sang too. And Iris has a grand piano!!! OMG! Not that I'm a pianist, but I learnt piano as a kid and my mum always felt how nice it would be to have a grand piano in our house. And I always admired how musicians can weave musical notes into beautiful melodies. Well, at least I can play the keyboard, though I wouldn't consider myself a musician.  On a related note, I wanna sell my keyboard cause I'm under-utilising it and believe someone else will be able to give it a new lease of life. Let me know if you are interested!

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26.08.10 / Thursday

Packed day. Went for an audition, cancelled an appointment, met a friend to pick up some stuff, headed down to MDC, and finally to my grandma's house!

My ah ma and gu gu (aunt) are awesome folks who never fail to prepare my favourite food when I visit, despite me telling them "it's ok, I'll eat outside first before I come" or "don't need to cook special food, whatever that you normally cook is fine". My ah ma dotes on all her children and grandchildren, especially my brother and myself cause they know we don't get to eat home cook food most of the time!

Doesn't look fanciful, but it's delicious, and not just because it's Made With Love.

Me and my gu gu, who is so shy!

Me and my ah ma! She's nearing 80 I think, but she looks young still and is very robust!

Phew, very long post. Till the next one! =)

New Links

Have added links to 2 of my artiste friends' blogs, Laura Kee and Jeszlene Zhou, under the new page "Links"! Check them out!

If you would like me to link your blog or website, whether you're an artiste or not, feel free to drop me a message!

I have also finally figured how to blog on the go, thus I hope I will be blogging more often!