It’s Called Bulshytt

From Anathem:

Bulshytt:

(1) In Fluccish of the late Praxic Age and early Reconstitution, a derogatory term for false speech in general, esp. knowing and deliberate falsehood or obfuscation.

(2) In Orth, a more technical and clinical term denoting speech (typically but not necessarily commercial or political) that employs euphemism, convenient vagueness, numbing repetition, and other such rhetorical subterfuges to create the impression that something has been said.

You imagine that there will be a little bit of bulshytt.

But in reality, there is so much bulshytt. Oh my Lord, so much bulshytt.

The bulshytt isn’t even from the people who are typically critical, or pessimistic. Surprisingly enough, they’re the most willing to consider new ideas.

No, I’m talking about the people who react to your idea with what Jason Fried calls red flag words: “can’t”, “need”, “won’t”, “everybody”, “easy”.

Jason says you should be careful about using these words, or when people on your team are using these words. He has a good explanation for why they’re bad, but I think a simple way to put it is that these are shortcut words - words that are used to deflect criticism and reflection.

When confronted with a preposterous new idea, people prefer to be the skeptic. Whenever they have a chance, they’ll remind you, “don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

Don’t worry, I won’t.

I’m calling bulshytt.

Update: Microsoft is the market leader of bulshytt.