by Susan RoAne
“Cyber dreck” … that’s what the Wall Street Journal said in 1992 was the composition of much that was on the WWW. I roared, knowing full well what the Wall Street Journal thought of much of the stuff floating on the internet.
I was inspired and motivated to reclaim dreck in my vocabulary. “That report is dreck,” “That politician, or independent prosecutor, is full of dreck,” or “I have to go shopping, my workout clothes are such dreck.”
Get the point?
And, so, I added “cyber dreck” to the trademark Yiddish Glossary in my third book, What Do I Say Next? Not that my mother was thrilled!
Okay, so we all know, as we remember running through airports (pre-covid), what it feels like to schlep too much luggage. The word tingles with onomatopoeia. Or as we attend events or go to places we see who is dressed like a schlep.
Can our assessment be any clearer when we call a boss, co-worker, competitor or client a schmuck? Or even very worse – a putz? (Words that I shudder to hear spewed on television!) But, we might be very reluctant to actually say what it really means in English.
IF skittish, try Yiddish!
In discussing the original hardback publisher of How To Work A Room</em>, I was careful (for legal reasons) to not call him what he truly is. But, goniff just rolled off my tongue with no hesitation.
There is no language as colorful, as hard to translate and as much fun as Yiddish.
When TV journalists have been reluctant to label machinations of the administration as crazy, several have used the term “mishegas”. And if you’re tired of all the knickknacks on your desk or in your living room, collecting dust and contributing to the clutter, get rid of the tchotchkes!
Please don’t think I am kvetching about the techno mavens, whose schmooze skills are only slightly lower than their mensch quotient!
Susan RoAne, Keynote Speaker and coach is the best-selling author of How To Work a Room, The Secrets of Savvy Networking and What Do I Say Next? Each book has a Yiddish Glossary as does her e-book Networking: Beyond The Buzzword.
Visit www.susanroane.com Follow @SusanRoAne or @howtoworkaroom®
Susan is available for VIRTUAL presentations, coaching and interviews.
OR, go Old School…415 461 3915
About Susan RoAne
