General > General Technical Chat
No, you didn’t “reach out”, you CONTACTED them
xrunner:
--- Quote from: tooki on September 22, 2021, 07:13:50 pm ---Yeah, the issue is that modern “corporate” tries to avoid sounding formal, so instead it’s this contorted “casual” register. Google “microspeak” for some deal doozies: Microsoft is famous for coining just weeeeeird corporate speak.
But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, beats the insanity of Sephora’s corporate vocabulary. It is, frankly, freakish. The salesclerks, oops sorry, “cast members” are under strict orders to use their doubletalk lingo. The most memorable bit is that one cannot give a coworker (even a subordinate) “criticism” or “feedback”. No, you have to call it a “gift”.
“Hey tooki, I have a gift for you! You totally borked that last sale…” :o
--- End quote ---
Is it OK to combine phrases? Such as "I would like to reach out to you with a gift"? :-DD
Sal Ammoniac:
--- Quote from: dave j on September 19, 2021, 12:49:42 pm ---English, like all languages, is ultimately defined by usage not diktat.
--- End quote ---
^^^This.
The British may not like Americanisms creeping into what they consider their language, but Americans, by far make up the largest group of speakers of the language. As an American who frequently visits the UK, I hear far more Americanisms in everyday speech in the UK than I hear British idioms in America.
This reminds me of the debate surrounding Pascal standards back in the 1980s. At the time, Turbo Pascal didn't adhere to the standard, but since Turbo Pascal users made up >95% of the users of the language, they couldn't care less.
YurkshireLad:
"...going forward...."
How many other ways can you go? Can you travel back in time? I hate that phrase! Grrrr lol
Sceptre:
'Reach out' has been used to refer to telephone calls in the US since the Bell System's "Reach Out and Touch Someone" ad campaign from the '70s:
https://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/bellsystem_ads-1.html
https://clickamericana.com/media/advertisements/reach-out-reach-out-and-touch-someone-1979-1982
Its popularity as corporate-speak has similar motivations - it sounds more warm and fuzzy. Wouldn't you rather hear "I'm reaching out to let you know that you've been selected to participate in a resource action" than "I'm calling to tell you that you're fired"? :)
eti:
--- Quote from: Sceptre on September 22, 2021, 11:52:42 pm ---'Reach out' has been used to refer to telephone calls in the US since the Bell System's "Reach Out and Touch Someone" ad campaign from the '70s:
https://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/bellsystem_ads-1.html
https://clickamericana.com/media/advertisements/reach-out-reach-out-and-touch-someone-1979-1982
Its popularity as corporate-speak has similar motivations - it sounds more warm and fuzzy. Wouldn't you rather hear "I'm reaching out to let you know that you've been selected to participate in a resource action" than "I'm calling to tell you that you're fired"? :)
--- End quote ---
Yes, but the context in which that is said is not clinical and corporate hogwash, and was aimed towards *domestic customers* and comes across as a warm, fuzzy way to encourage phone usage for contacting loved ones during the heyday of landlines.
Not quite the same as parroting variations on "reached out" et cetera as a one-size-fits-all buzzword in a clumsy attempt to "sound corporate and professional".
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