Handley_Page
Draco interdum Vincit
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
- Posts
- 78,287
[no, it’s your pet RANT.
In particular, where you see wholesale abuse of the English language. ]
For example:-
One of the things that really bugs me about the ‘modern’ firm is the use of the term ‘solution’ as if it were a product. To my old-fashioned mind, a solution is either of two things; one, a mixture of something in water or, two, the answer to a riddle or puzzle.
What it really, really, ain’t is an end in itself. I see dozens of firms’ vans each promising a solution; usually without much indication about what sort of problem is solved, if any. The latest idiocy (as I see it), is the white van the other day who drifted past me with the sign “creative solutions”, without any sign what so ever as to what product or service the firm dealt with.
I should, perhaps, explain at this point that “white van man” (ie., the driver of the ubiquitous white-painted delivery van) holds a special place in the hearts of almost any car driver in England; and it isn’t love that keeps him there.
He (and it is usually a ‘he’), drives as if he’s no cares at all. Bearing in mind that it’s not his vehicle, fuel or insurance, this is, perhaps, understandable. He often tries to insinuate his van through gaps that would make most motorcyclists blench and, furthermore, at speeds fast enough to make a racing driver think twice. In other words, he’s a menace to the urban motoring fraternity. He is universally cursed up and down this orb’d & sceptr’d land.
But the solution ? Ah well, then. There’s a wonderful cartoon where the salesman says to the engineer, “we don’t sell products, we sell solutions” and there is a blank stare by way of response.
I’d rather be stuck behind a van with “Bloggs – Plumbers” with the details thereon than a creative solution. At least there’s something to read whilst waiting to turn off the main drag.
And you never know; I might even need a plumber one day.
In particular, where you see wholesale abuse of the English language. ]
For example:-
One of the things that really bugs me about the ‘modern’ firm is the use of the term ‘solution’ as if it were a product. To my old-fashioned mind, a solution is either of two things; one, a mixture of something in water or, two, the answer to a riddle or puzzle.
What it really, really, ain’t is an end in itself. I see dozens of firms’ vans each promising a solution; usually without much indication about what sort of problem is solved, if any. The latest idiocy (as I see it), is the white van the other day who drifted past me with the sign “creative solutions”, without any sign what so ever as to what product or service the firm dealt with.
I should, perhaps, explain at this point that “white van man” (ie., the driver of the ubiquitous white-painted delivery van) holds a special place in the hearts of almost any car driver in England; and it isn’t love that keeps him there.
He (and it is usually a ‘he’), drives as if he’s no cares at all. Bearing in mind that it’s not his vehicle, fuel or insurance, this is, perhaps, understandable. He often tries to insinuate his van through gaps that would make most motorcyclists blench and, furthermore, at speeds fast enough to make a racing driver think twice. In other words, he’s a menace to the urban motoring fraternity. He is universally cursed up and down this orb’d & sceptr’d land.
But the solution ? Ah well, then. There’s a wonderful cartoon where the salesman says to the engineer, “we don’t sell products, we sell solutions” and there is a blank stare by way of response.
I’d rather be stuck behind a van with “Bloggs – Plumbers” with the details thereon than a creative solution. At least there’s something to read whilst waiting to turn off the main drag.
And you never know; I might even need a plumber one day.
