New York City sanitation engineers (that’s garbage men, for anyone living west of the Hudson River) have developed their own jargon, reports the New York Times.
According to the Times, garbage trucks are “white elephants.” Loading a white elephant with garbage is known as “tossing the salad.” If the garbage is especially viscous it may result in “hopper juice,” which is the rather nasty liquid that remains after a white elephant is emptied at an offloading site.
One Department of Sanitation employee speculated that the stigma attached to the job results in the gallows humor feeds these, and other, industry-specific terms. As it turns out, sanitation isn’t the only often-stigmatized occupation that has its own jargon. What follow are a few examples of the industry’s cant.
Another vote for Abraham Lincoln – A reply card that arrives long after a campaign has ended
Ask Joe and Jane how many sides a circle should have – conduct a focus group
Biting the Apple back -- When telemarketers call a New York City prospect, or one located in any other locale known for belligerent recipients (known in some parts as “Apple sauce”)
Britney Spears’ honeymoon – The seconds between when a telemarketing prospect picks up the phone and realizes it’s a sales call
Confederate currency – bad checks or credit cards successfully used to make purchases
Dialing the Ouija White Pages – When a telemarketing call recipient claims the target is dead (Call centers based in tobacco-growing states often refer to this as “having a coffin fit)
Son of HAL – An overpriced, user-unfriendly piece of CRM software (a recent variation on this is “Oy, Robot”)
Hanging chads – Any unused response cards left on a bind-in effort
Invading Switzerland – Conducting a campaign that is especially successful in collecting personal information from consumers
A JDL fundraiser to KKK prospects – An especially poorly performing list test
Letter from an old flame – An especially successful outer envelope, or e-mail subject line test
Old Man Marconi, sales agent – A direct response radio advertising campaign
Teaching Chinese to a cabbage – Explaining high-level data modeling to a C-level executive
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