I know that at times I'm as guilty as the next person for "recycling ideas," but there comes a point when you find yourself going crosseyed at all the parrot-squawking happening on the web. This is as rampant of a problem in the corporate world; trust me I've sat through enough meetings listening to VPs ramble on with their "FYIs", "piggybacking on old ideas", "marrying the copy and the design", and the ever-popular but dreaded utterance, "more work is coming down the pike."

Are we so dense of a breed that we need lingo for EVERY aspect of our lives?

If I hear one more Divapreneur tell another, "You go girl," or listen to some poor well-meaninged sap turn to his brethren networker and utter the tired old phrase, "Hope this helps," I'm going to bash my head through the monitor and go careening down the street with the equipment still attached, screaming myself silly at the sheer nonsense of it all.

I'm not saying that everything I've ever typed in a network post, web article, blog entry or email is 100% Original Dina, because of course I do that thing that we all do - try to incorporate friendly, well-known expressions in the hope of cultivating a sense of familiarity. Adopting the appropriate terminology sends a message to people that you're "a member of the club." It also has a nice effect on the search engines. Yet, there comes a point when it's time to put one's foot down.

Let's make a pact, you and me. Next time we feel compelled to type the words "Hope this helps," how about doing a few neural jumping jacks to warm up the day... and think of an alternate phrase that means the same thing. "Hope this is what you were looking for," "I hope this answers your question," "Let me know how it works out for you." "Let me know if I interpreted your question correctly." It's not that difficult to craft a simple sentence that conveys you as human and personable as opposed to an internet zombie just repeating meaningless jargon over and over.

Finally, we have bootstrapping. Everyone's bootstrapping, pulling themselves up by their own boots and making heated speeches about it from their internet soap boxes. If another person bootstraps anywhere near me, I'm going to yank their boot off and whap them in the mouth with it.

End of Rant.

Copyright 2006 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

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