Take Our W-O-R-D for It

This column interprets a variety of words, phrases, and acronyms encountered in technical communication. Learn and laugh as your peers provide real world and sometimes cheeky definitions in each issue. This issue's definitions are provided courtesy of your fellow Willamette Valley Chapter members.

SOP:

Formerly known as Standard Operating Procedure, but often redefined by the young upstarts of industry as "Stagnant Old Processes."
- John Benson

Same Old Palaver-What you get when your creativity has abandoned you.
- Dick Miller

Seldom-used Operating Procedure.
- Ben Moore

The Bleeding Edge:

A British term for the part of the razor specifically cursed after causing nicks and cuts that occur when former shaving SOPs are thought of as Stagnant Old Processes.
- John Benson

The result of shaving in the dark with a dull razor.
- Dick Miller

Where upper management says they want to be, though they're only willing to pay for a plastic butter knife.
- Ben Moore

Block Diagrams:

Head-shot photos of upstarts in the razor industry who ignore the old definition of SOP.
- John Benson

Large-scale maps.
- Dick Miller

So easy to draw, even a block head could do it.
- Ben Moore

Call-Out:

A sometimes accepted means of settling SOP definition disagreements (has its origins in tavern society; initiated by, "You 'n me-outside!)
- John Benson

What the umpire does when the ball gets to the base before you do.
- Dick Miller

What you do with profanities when your MS Word call outs unexpectedly move off the figures.
- Ben Moore

Web-centric:

Genre-identifier for Charlotte's Web .
- John Benson

Descriptive of a spider's life.
- Dick Miller

Legacy Document:

A white paper used to legitimize company traditions and SOPs redefined by upstarts.
- John Benson

Last Will and Testament.
- Dick Miller

This document has such a legacy, no one will pay you to update it.
- Ben Moore

That document that everyone thinks is around, but no one can tell you where it is because no one has used or read it, since it was written eons ago!
- Nancy Osterhout

Additional Resources

The following are just a few among many web sites that can help you quickly identify this issue's actual definitions on your own:

whatis.techtarget.com/

hokum.freehomepage.com/Content/Glossary/Glossary_Technical.html

www.wright.edu/~martha.sammons/Links/TECHWRIT.HTM

toolsforwriters.com/portfolios/fall03/orr/terms.htm