How does your profession say “I haven’t got a clue” without sounding stupid? – 18 working euphemisms
It’s well known that different professions have their own jargon that makes perfect sense to those in the know and is a mystery to everyone else. One important phrase that’s necessary for every profession is “I don’t know” or, more often, “Not a f**king clue”.
Back in 2018, this tweet got people thinking about how that would sound in their circles.
What are the technical terms, in your field, for 'dunno'?
In medicine there's 'idoeopathic'
In archeology/anthropology there's 'ritual purposes'
How do you professionally term 'we haven't got a clue'?— Hannawe'en ️ (@Hannah_Chutzpah) December 16, 2018
These made the list of favourite euphemisms.
1.
In linguistics, calling a word a "pragmatic marker" is often a clear sign that we don't have a clue what it means. https://t.co/ej2abbl4W9
— George Wⓐlkden (@gwalkden) December 22, 2018
2.
In software engineering, we say "the issue was not reproducible". https://t.co/O0jJ2nwP8L
— @chimeracoder.bsky.social ️ (@chimeracoder) December 23, 2018
3.
Communications: "Send to legal for approval."
Politics: "Absolutely. I know exactly what you're talking about." https://t.co/AHFFQdNBSz
— Charlotte Clymer (@cmclymer) December 26, 2018
4.
In software development it's "It works on my machine" 😉 https://t.co/ejkdxPP9Xp
— Rich Turner (@richturn_ms) December 23, 2018
5.
In cosmology: dark matter and dark energy. https://t.co/Ywl6KgENz2
— Sophia Gad-Nasr (@Astropartigirl) December 23, 2018
6.
In psychology, it is "we thank the reviewer for raising this important question, but it is beyond the scope of the present paper" 😉 https://t.co/AW0SnlybL2
— Eiko Fried (@EikoFried) December 23, 2018
7.
Teaching "interesting question, we're looking at that next lesson."
— Robert Robson (@rrobson66) December 23, 2018
8.
In palaeontology (not my field—I just like fossils), problematica refers to unidentifiable fossils. Pretty sure that's Latinish for "I don't know wtf this is, but it has to fit in a category or I can't give it a name."
— LaFal (@LauraAnnFallon) December 23, 2018
9.
Human Resources: “it depends”
— Marie Donn (@Marie_Donn) December 26, 2018