Citation
(2004), "Language, Timothy!", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 53 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2004.07953gaa.003
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Language, Timothy!
Firstly, I apologise to most readers who will fail to see the link between this item and its heading. (“Language, Timothy!” is from an old, and not very good, British sit-com). The issue I want to raise is the way in which language – and terminology – changes over time. Sometimes, this results in PC (politically correct) language becoming non-PC (and vice versa), sometimes it simply signals that the user of a particular phrase is out-of-date. Sometimes the change takes many years; sometimes a change can happen in a matter of days. The term Prime Minister, for example, was originally one of abuse – applied to the holder of the office of First Lord of the Treasury. As a formal term of respect, Prime Minister was first used in a royal warrant in 1905. The point is to use language carefully to avoid giving unintentional offence. This is particularly true when working globally and/or in multi-cultural environments.