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Re: Another term for "turnkey" AKA... calling your bluff
Subject:Re: Another term for "turnkey" AKA... calling your bluff From:"Huber, Mike" <mrhuber -at- SOFTWARE -dot- ROCKWELL -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 12 Oct 1998 15:37:40 -0400
> Here's one for all the "overused terms" folks out there...
>
> So what is a "better" term for turnkey?
As with most overused terms, "turnkey" has a meaning, and is the right word
in some cases.
But the more typical use of the term is as a vain boast that a system is
perhaps not as hard to set up as it could be if you bought all the pieces
separately. One definition of "turnkey" is "hey, our team of engineers
managed to get the prototype to sort-of run in the lab." Before using the
word, even if it is the right word, take a good graphic look at it. That 'n'
tends to get lost between the 'r' and the 'k'. In many fonts, the 'r' sets
up a rhythm and the 'k' chops it off.
Similarly, "best-in-class" has a legitimate meaning, and is sometimes the
right word. However, the more common definition of "best-in-class" is "the
one we sell."
"World Class" also has a legitimate meaning, but typically means "we are (or
hope someday to be) a multi-national company and we aren't too embarrassed
to sell it, but we can't explain in specific terms how it's better than the
one your nephew made for a class project in junior high."
But then there are terms like "internal customer." The term was invented as
a shoehorn to force internal processes into business models that are
designed for customer-service processes. There are situations where there is
no better substitute for the term, but that's often because the language has
a certain amount of wisdom built into it. There are ideas that sound awkward
because the idea is awkward.
And then there are terms that are used to obscure or to sound like they mean
more than they do.
Once again, it's not a question of what's "correct" but what your reader
will understand. When a word is abused too often, the reader develops a
cynical definition.
---
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