EDITOR’S LETTER

Pearly Prose…NOT

What happened to President Obama’s promise to kill corporate-speak? Back in 2007, he said, “When I take my chair in the Oval Office, one of my first orders of business will be to outlaw inane words and phrases…right-sizing, knowledge acquisition, unsiloing…words that dumb people use to sound smart.”

EMPTY WORDS

I love that he spoke those words. I don’t much care for the fact that they were just, well, words.

When it comes to the words we hear all too often, each of us probably has a few that affect us like proverbial nails on the chalkboard. (Yes, I know, if you’re under 30, you’ll just have to Google that.)

In optical, the word I’d most like to ban from our books is dispensary. Why? Because it sounds like you work in a pharmacy or sell medical marijuana.

You don’t go to all that trouble merchandising, selecting, displaying, and presenting to toss the impact down the drain by calling it a dispensary.

I don’t know about you, but there’s no way I’d pay $500 for frames in something called a dispensary.

BUSINESS-SPEAK

In general business—and in meetings you likely have at your location—almost everybody uses some business jargon that they’ve picked up and held onto. My least favorites?

Wheelhouse: Should be in a verse from “Ol’ Man River.”

Reach out: Only if you’re stretching or grabbing.

Empower: Could that be more condescending?

Right-sized: Nothing feels OK about being cut.

Learnings: What does this even mean?

What about you? Do you have words you absolutely hate that are commonly used in our business or others? If so, let us know (EyecareBizEditor@PentaVisionMedia.com). We’d love to share what’s on your “bad boy” list. And feel free to chime in with your feelings on “dispensary.”

Stephanie K. De Long
Editorial Director