Like any industry or professional practice, financial services, the leafy, warm-hearted vineyard in which I toiled for two decades, has jargon unique to it. These specialized words serve two purposes. First, they show users are “in the know”, attuned to its inside baseball. This establishes trust when high flyers pitch dodgy multibillion dollar deals to one another. In this, they’re no different than architects, physicians or scientists. You’ve got to believe people in the mahogany-paneled conference room with the brass sconces are at least as smart as you and jargon helps assure that. Second, the terms are shorthand so the HBS geniuses don’t have to explain hard concepts to those knuckle-draggers from Yale. Here are expressions to drop when you’re cornered at a soiree by The Smartest Guy in the Room.
© 2024 John Oliver
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