@Hannah Templeton raises a fantastic point!
Ours is an industry ripe with acronyms and abbreviations, which are already hard enough to deal with, so the use of idioms is likely to cause further confusion.
As someone whose first language is English, the language that many businesses seem to use as their 'default' language in the current era, I am fortunate to have never needed to learn a new language.
However, using an expression like "Break a leg" or "Hit the sack" won't necessarily make sense to everyone.
This is especially true if you have certain dialects, such as using 'Cockney Rhyming Slang'
I could say that use of idioms will 'muddy the waters' which in itself will prove why we shouldn't use them: Not everyone will understand that sentence.
("Muddy the waters" means causing confusion, making things unclear, or making things difficult to comprehend)
Because of this, I encourage our community to try to remain conscious of how their language may be misconstrued (or taken too literally) by people who are not as accustomed with this language.
For anyone who is confused by idioms used with the English language, hopefully the diagram below will help :)
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Niall Ashley (he/him)
Consultant in Mainframe Security (RACF)
Vertali Ltd
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Original Message:
Sent: Fri June 14, 2024 01:53 AM
From: Hannah Templeton
Subject: Language Barrier Thoughts after Career Conversation with DBAs
Who else watched the Career Conversations with the DBAs today? It was the first time that I heard Scott live, and the first time that I was "introduced" to Nathan. Thank you to them and to Anna and Shari for hosting this event.
I appreciate the differences and similarities between both of the Mainframe stories we heard today. One of the points that Nathan made that I think is worth revisiting and discussing is the language barrier. That must have been hard! I wonder if he has since learned French? Have you New to Z folks encountered a similar issue too?
I have not been expected to learn a new language, but there are thriving cultures all around me. Good communication takes work, and here is something I have found beneficial: not using idioms and other figures of speech.
An idiom is when the sum of the phrase is not equal to the meaning of each individual word. For example, "Let's hit the bull's eye!" This can mean to strike a mature male cow's eye, or it can be an attempt to figuratively convey a goal of accuracy. That is a big difference. These sayings are common, and we use them frequently. The lack of clarity that they can bring to a conversation can disrupt an exchange of ideas from taking place. Taking figurative sayings out of our speech when engaging with people whose mother tongue is not our own can clear the waters for the most important ideas to be drawn to the surface and engaged. That's what we want. After all, Mainframe lingo is complicated enough.
What do you think?
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Hannah Templeton
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