Do you know that you speak a foreign language, even if you only speak English?
For example, when I was growing up in Colorado, a carbonated beverage was called ‘pop’ and a soda was a fountain concoction with ice cream, flavored syrup and carbonated (soda) water.
When I moved to Missouri, ‘pop’ became ‘soda’. I say it all the time , and nowadays I would never think of asking for a pop. If I move south, it’s my understanding that I will have to learn to refer to all carbonated beverages ‘coke’.
Are They Understanding .. or Just Hearing?
We all use language that is familiar to us, but it might be foreign to those who are hearing us. Listeners might not ask for a translation because they afraid of appearing ignorant, in which cast most of your message has been lost.
As a teacher – both of music and of how to make money – I struggle with this. I constantly need to remind to make myself to bring my communications to the level of my listener. This isn’t because they are too stupid to understand. It just means that they need to be educated in the vocabulary, just as you would if you stepped into someone else’s area of expertise.
Parlez Vous IM Speak?
Do you throw around words like ‘attraction marketing’ or ‘lead nurturing’ or ‘autoresponder’ and assume that people know what you are talking about? If so, you may lose potential leads because your language sounds too confusing and beyond their comprehension.
I know a wonderful woman in Australia who is very good at translating network marketing language. Her name is Julianne van Zyl, and she is a master teacher. This article she has written can help you to communicate more effectively as you bring people into your online business. Thanks, Julianne, for Network Marketers Internet Marketing Terms.
What words do you use that are common in your region? Please leave a comment!
All the best,
Tags: Personal Development
Leave A Reply (8 comments so far)
Kevin Martineau
207 days ago
Hi Lesley:
I find this to be so true in many avenues of life. It seems that each industry has it’s own language that you need to learn. I really enjoyed Julianne’s post as it helped me understand a lot of terms that I hear often but had no idea of what they meant.
Kevin
P.S. In Canada a carbonated beverage in Canada is a pop not a soda.
Kevin Martineau recently posted..4 ways to have contentment
Leslie
202 days ago
Yes, Julianne’s post was wonderful. I am about to embark on a marketing campaign that will get me into contact with people who are not too internet savvy. I will need to remember that this time last year I didn’t know anything and speak accordingly. Do all Canadians use ‘pop’?
All the best,
Leslie
Yorinda
206 days ago
Hi Leslie,
yes, you are so right, we can easily end up using ‘language’ that most people are not familiar with, even though we may be speaking english to english speaking people.
Sometimes I can feel an aversion to a word that I am not familiar with, which usually tells me that I don’t fully understand it’s meaning.
Thank you for bringing the attention to this subject and for providing a link to someone who can help.
Cheers,
Yorinda
Yorinda recently posted..Salt versus Himalayan Salt
Leslie
202 days ago
Hi Yorinda. I’ll bet you have lots of words in your country I wouldn’t understand. I haven’t talked to many people from New Zealand, but one of my favorite songs is ‘Waltzing Matilda’ from Australia. You practically need a dictionary of Australian slang to know what it’s about. Billabong? Swagman? I know the meanings of all the words now, but at first it was a little hard to get my head around. Thanks for stopping by.
All the best,
Leslie
Steve Vernon
206 days ago
Language is, indeed, an interesting thing, and something that is constantly changing. When I was growing up in the South, a “soda” was referred to as a “cold drink” (or as we would say, a “col’drink”). English in the U.S. is full of colloquialisms, although with modern media, our language has become much more homogeneous; which is a shame in a way, because it was always fun to travel to different parts of the country and try to figure out what people were saying. I once knew an Air Force Colonel stationed at MacDill AFB here in Tampa who was in charge of taking care of the Coalition Forces families who were stationed here from around the world. Since he was from Alabama and spoke with a really thick Alabama accent, he would jokingly say that the reason the Air Force gave him that particular job was because he spoke English as a second language, too! I always thought that was hilarious!
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Leslie
202 days ago
Great story, Steve. And after living in several states, I know what you are saying. When I was in Oklahoma, it was ‘y’all’ and in my area now it’s ‘you’ns’. And when we drove through Georgia last year, I just had to ask the clerk, ‘What in the heck are boiled peanuts?’ I use a lot of foreign words as a music teacher, and I have to keep asking the students if they understand. Of course most of them say ‘yes’, but I’m sure some of it flies over their heads. Thanks for your contribution.
All the best,
Leslie
Julia Reed
204 days ago
“Between what I think I want to say, what I believe I’m saying, what I say, what you want to hear, what you believe you understand, and what you understood, there are at least nine possibilities for misunderstanding” -Francois Garagnon. This is one of my favorite sayings. I totally agree with you, Leslie. Possibilities of misunderstanding are everywhere and we should do our best to make our communication with others as effective as possible. On the other hand, we should not be embarrassed of asking questions whenever something is unclear.
Julia Reed recently posted..Fraternity Hazing: Hair-Raising Facts All Freshmen Must Know
Leslie
202 days ago
Love that, Julia. I’ve heard that saying – at least part of it – and never knew the attribution. And yes, asking questions is vital. Thanks for your input.
All the best,
Leslie