Don't Give Me Gobbledygook!

 Pronunciation: GOB-ul-dee-GOOK

I always seem to flip through this book I read for my social media class called, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, written by David Meerman Scott. Unlike most other textbooks I have read, this one is pretty easy-to-read and interesting. 

One word that caught my eye when I was skimming through some of the pages was Gobbledygook.  

In a nutshell, Gobbledygook is a term that is used to describe any type of writing that is considered "incomprehensible" or "jargon". It's not something you want your writing to be referred to. 

After reading about this term, I thought to myself, "Have I ever written anything with Gobbledygook?" The answer? OF COURSE I HAVE! It's not something I am proud of, but it is definitely something I have done in the past and probably do from time to time today. 

Courtesy of About.comhttp://search.about.com/?q=Gobbledygook

 "Because these writers don’t understand how their products solve customer problems, they cover by explaining how the product works and pepper this blather with industry jargon." - David Meerman Scott  

This is a quote I took from David Meerman Scott. He is explaining how companies use their industry jargon (also known as Gobbledygook) in order to avoid dealing with customer's problems. Instead of directing answering a question, they ignore the problem and just answer with a bunch of Gobbledygook normal humans (like myself) wouldn't understand about a product. 

Great example of Gobbledygook: 

"Where the combined value of the above payments before actual assimilation remains greater than the combined value of the payments after assimilation, the former level of pay will be protected. These protection arrangements apply to the combined value of payments before and after assimilation, not to individual pay components, excepting the provision relating to retention of existing on-call arrangements."
("Agenda for Change," Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals NHS Trust) 

Do you know what that means? Yeah, me either. 

Have you ever dealt with a Gobbledygook situation? How did you deal with it? Share it with me!
 
 
 

College Wake-Up Calls

There are many things I wish someone would have told me when I was a freshman starting my first year at Ohio Northern. Like most students, I assumed I would be getting the experience I saw on my favorite television shows (e.g. Greek was a big hit for me). Yeah, that didn't happen. Don't get me wrong, some of the experiences matched my high expectations--but overall, there are many things I wish I would have done differently. 

Things I wish someone would have told me as a freshman: 

• Homework doesn't do itself. I tried doing that whole, "If it is due tomorrow, I'll do it tomorrow." Yeah...I am still definitely guilty of this at times (okay, so it happens more than I think it should), but I wish I would have started a better habit when college had first started.
• If there is an exam on Monday, you shouldn't go out and stay up all night both nights. At the time, you are thinking "yes, I definitely can...I am young and in college," and I am here to tell you--DON'T DO IT! It is seriously one of the dumbest things I have done in college. 
• Not every boy is Prince Charming. When a boy texts you at 1 a.m. asking to hang out, I am here to tell you that he doesn't just want to sit and talk about your "awesome" lives. If he asks you to hang out during the day or early evening, then I would say this is okay, but otherwise--I'd stay safe and sound in your room.
• You don't need to join every single organization to be a "well-rounded" student. At one point, I was in over 9 or 10 organizations. That was really not a good idea for me. Some students can pull it off (which is awesome and I have no idea how they do it), but if you have a heavy class load or have a problem with time management, I wouldn't suggest you go sign up for every organization that gives you treats at Welcome Fest. 
• When people ask you if you want off their email list, don't ignore them. If you want to be on an organization or group's email list, definitely just keep doing what you are doing. I know from experience that I have gotten tons of emails for organizations that I have no interest in being a part of. Email them and kindly tell them you want to be taken off their emailing list--it will make your email less cluttered. 
• Walking across campus doesn't count as a work out. Yes, Kinghorn is really far and inconvenient, but so are those extra pounds. I gained like 10 pounds my freshman year and I am so mad about it! If I would have just tried a little harder to get like 30 minutes of working out time a day, I would have been just fine. So try to work out!
• Be careful with your food decisions and meal times. We are college students and we are always trying to eat whenever we can because we are always so busy. Try to get a schedule going for certain days of the week so you aren't making multiple late night Taco Bell trips in a three-day time span. 

There is a lot more I am still learning today and I am a senior. I am still guilty of doing some of these things, but breaking habits is tough stuff. I am letting you guys know so that you don't make the same mistakes I did. 

What habits have you found hard to break? What advice would you give to an incoming freshman? Share it with me!

PS. Wearing a mustache in the cafeteria WILL get you a ton of weird looks...