Wordsmith Workshop




Fun Stuff

Formula for Bafflegab

Have you ever read a technical article that was so full of three-syllable super-techie words that you felt like a techno-illiterate because you didn't understand it?

That writer might have caught on to the Buzzphrase Generator published by Scientific Sales Co. of Lawrenceville, New Jersey as a helpful resource "for busy engineers and lazy sales representatives."

Scientific Sales Co. explains the need for the Buzzphrase Generator this way:

"A new vocabulary to technical phrases has come into existence as a result of wide acceptance of digital computer technology. To impress superiors and colleagues with your digital knowledge, merely spice conversations and reports with phrases from the columns below."

To create impressive technical documents, you need only choose any three-digit number at random from the Buzzword Generator and then take the corresponding word from each column. For instance, let's choose 366; we come up with "parallel transitional time-phrase." Similarly, 713 produces "synchronized organizational mobility."

"It has no meaning," admits its creators, "but even the most expert computer person will stop before questioning it."

Now, if you promise not to use this to create fake techno-docs, I'll reveal the Buzzphrase Generator:

COLUMN 1 COLUMN 2 COLUMN 3

0. integrated 0. management  0.  options  
1. total 1. organizational  1.  flexibility  
2. systematized 2. monitored  2.  capability  
3. parallel 3. reciprocal  3.  mobility  
4. functional 4. digital  4.  programming  
5. responsible 5. logistical  5.  concept  
6. optimal 6. transitional  6.  time-phase  
7. synchronized 7. incremental  7.  projection  
8. compatible 8. third-generation  8.  hardware  
9. balanced   9.  policy    9.  contingency  

      Book dingbat


 
copyright 1993-2007
Mary McWilliams Johnson