What’s So Super About That? By Michael Camden, Business Development, Managing Communications Consulting
Filed under: Bits and Tips, Marketing Communications
The Super Bowl (Wait, can I say that? I mean, legally?) looms over us like the impending hurricane you know is coming, but all you care about are the great parties. In the case of the big game, we’re all anxiously salivating for the Doritos commercials, especially that guy and his clandestine dog from Virginia Beach. So, you think this is an article about the NFL championship game. But, not so fast. Why is the game so super? I mean, unless you are a Giants or Patriots fan.
What determines superiority? Super Man bends steel and much more. My child is rated “superior student” when she cooperates and participates in school. There are super committees and super pacs, but this is not political satire either. There are super novas (also a great song in the 90s), and as long as we’re referencing music, what is a Supertramp anyway? There are superstitions and superlatives. Some things are even supercalifragilistic (or something like that). We have celebrities that we crown as super stars. Some of those stars fall from the sky as they fall from grace. There are super computers and super conductors, but I studied English and business, so what do I know about I.T.? There are super highways, which really make the regular highways feel inferior. Some people are super sensitive, but not me. Really, I’m not!
In the 70s we had supermarkets, but for some reason that wasn’t super enough, so we created super supermarkets. They know who they are. I remember when McDonald’s advertised a meal for under a buck. Yes sir. You got a burger, fries, and a drink and change back (a penny probably). Now to get that same meal, you have to super size it. That movie already hit Redbox long ago. Oh and lest I forget super models like the babes on Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue. What makes them super? Even the Dove soap models are attractive, but super?
In my youth, you may have overheard me shout “super-decent” when Jaws devoured an unsuspecting victim. When a normal person does something heroic, they often display superhuman strength. It all sounds so super natural. Which makes me wonder, what the heck is superfly?
Super is defined by Webster’s as excellent, very great, and excessive. Ah excessive. Now we’re onto something. Did I say that this is not a story about the super bowl? Now it is, because I just googled “super”. The first 22 pages of links were all related to the super bowl. I gave up at page 23. That is what I call super-excessive.
Here’s a super idea. Let’s move the big game to Saturday or earlier on Sunday so that we can all get some super rest before returning to super reality on Monday.
Gotta run. I’m late for super; I mean supper.
“Shut-up! No way?! I can’t believe it!”
Filed under: Bits and Tips, Marketing Communications
By Alisa Crider, PR Associate, Managing Communications
Wow! How could a word that used to mean “to stop talking” now mean “Please – tell more!” It’s easy to blame the obvious – the media. Those who have seen the popular American teen comedy film, Mean Girls, are familiar with “the plastics,” the A-list girl clique who are the queen bees of their high school. You might recall Regina (Rachel McAdams) asking Cady (Lindsay Lohan) who had just moved from Africa, “So you’ve actually never been to a real school before? Shut up! Shut up!” Cady responds back in confusion, “I didn’t say anything.” Although this may be a comical exaggeration, this scene is not too far off from today’s high school setting.
Stacy London the fashion expert on What Not to Wear says “Shut-up” all the time in a similar manner. Her use of the word seems to define shock or serve as a substitute to the phrase “Oh my gosh!” My favorite reference however, is in the 2011 Golden Globe winner for Best Comedy, “The Kids are Alright.” Paul (VB native, Mark Ruffalo) plays the birth father and has a tendency to sub “Shut the front door” for a more inappropriate phrase.
On a different note, “Shut Up” is also a song by the American hip hop band The Black Eyed Peas. The 2003 single is on their album Elephunk. It’s basically the battle of the sexes put into song with the chorus consisting of the lines “shut up, just shut up shut up”. In this case, the word is used repeatedly to get a point across. Funny how a word that used to be frowned upon, is now being sung by 12-year-olds on a daily basis.
So when did the connotation of this word shift and become so casual and “fetch”? It’s hard to point fingers at an individual who coined this term; however, I think it is easy to say it was born out of the millennial generation – people born between 1982 and 2000, ages 10 to 28.
There are several characteristics of millennials that contribute to this assumption. First of all, they are the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital media. It’s hard to find a person in this age group who doesn’t own an Ipod or have a Facebook account. In fact, many prefer chatting online to talking on the phone. IM-ing (Instant Message) is the preferred communication tool and is where people show off their knowledge of acronyms, like “DEGT”: “don’t even go there,” or “IDTS”: “I don’t think so.” Millennials are technology savvy because they have no real memory of life without computers, cell phones, or digital music.
Typical Millennial tends to be extremely competitive, confident and optimistic. This contradicts the fact that Millennials also appear to be the most stressed-out generation in history. They seem to require constant encouragement to thrive and are not too humble to make this known. Most are social bumble bees and crave attention and recognition. This explains why most teens strive for the A-list and don’t typically fall short. They devour the popular lingo that echoes through the high school halls because everyone knows “Shut-up!” is much sassier than “No way!”
There is a time and a place for everything, and the workplace is not somewhere the word “shut-up” should be used under any context. Some people may feel it depends on the work environment of the business where they are employed. I personally would not use that language with my boss, but I see other people do. Even if the word is not used in its original context, and is instead used by its millennial definition, I still find it unnecessary and inappropriate. It is slang and has no effective use in the workplace.
“Shut-up” is now a word with multiple meanings, and it may take a while for all the generations to understand its new meaning.
Can you believe an entire blog was devoted to such a trivial subject?…Shut-up!
MCC Pro: What does ASAP mean? Are we communicating it effectively to our employees?
by Alisa Crider, PR Associate
ASAP – what does it really mean? According to Dilbert’s comic strip it means “A Stupid Acting Person,” but if you ask the Dr. Seuss’ character Horton, from Horton Hears a Who, it “probably” means “act swiftly, awesome pachyderm.” However, “As Soon As Practical”, “After September, April Possibly” and “As Slow As Possible” are some playful, yet slang, pop culture meanings of the acronym. To the rock and roll fans it is the abbreviation for “Adrian Smith and Project,” a progressive rock band created by guitarist and vocalist Adrian Smith of the English band Iron Maiden. Although that “rocks” for some, I think it’s OK to assume that most people in the business world think the acronym ASAP means “As Soon As Possible.”
Believe it or not, there are hundreds of non-slang definitions for ASAP from various categories including: Information Technology (IT), Military & Government, Science & Medicine, Organizations, Schools, etc., and Business & Finance. For example, to the Navy it means survival – “Advanced Survivability Assessment Program”, which is a naval ship design, but to the Army it means trouble – “Army Substance Abuse Program. It’s the Automated Standard Application for Payment to the US Treasury Department and Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel to NASA. In the UK, it’s the “Association of Social Alarms Providers” and in Slovakia it means “Aeronautical Services and Procedures”.
Most commonly in our business communications, the acronym is used to express the importance of some act. It has higher priority than anything else and will be done in a short period of time. If this act is not done, it typically results in bad consequences that every employee wants to avoid if they like their job.
Besides working for Managing Communications Consulting, I also work at a law firm and as one should know, you can’t mess with the law! I was given an assignment that had to be done ASAP. I had not been working there long and had never been given an assignment with such apparent urgency. A check needed to be signed by the lawyer who wasn’t in the office. After obtaining his signature at a restaurant nearby, I then had a 30-minute drive to the court house to make the crucial deadline. If I drove really fast and didn’t catch any lights, I may have made it to my scheduled dentist appointment. Well, I had to reschedule. It’s funny how priorities can change when you are told something has to be done ASAP. It’s an acronym that brings stress and anxiety to me yet at the same time its exuberating because you know you have an important challenge ahead.
I think ASAP should be used sparingly. When bosses overuse the acronym it tends to lose its urgency. A boss that uses the term sparingly is more likely to get the desired result in a timely fashion.
Anyway, I seem to like the other definitions better. Remember… Always Say A Prayer…or is it Always Stop and Pray?
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