Saturday, February 28, 2009

Aubletak (alt. Aubletac)

Perhaps also obletac, obeltak, some mix of them. I like Aubletak the most. Pronounced "Awe - bell - tak"

Definition: This is a bit of a high level concept - imagine that you are in a meeting where many people have things to say, and there is a very limited amount of time for everyone to participate. Someone is asked to speak, and they do -- for a long period of time. They may start on topic, but quickly digress and move away into whimsy, which no one really wants to hear about. However, no one wants to be the awful person that puts up their hand and says "Hey, uh, 'scuse me, but is what you're saying ever going to be even remotely relevant to this group again?" - because they'd have to be a dick. Everyone would applaud them internally, but they'd be hated publicly.

So I propose that someone just murmur, "aubeltak". If anyone else agrees, they repeat it. If you're ever talking and you hear a room full of people - or even two or three - toss out an aubletak, then maybe you should reconsider where you're going with things.

Someone could even be direct about it, raise their hand and say ".. I'm sorry, but this feels kind of aubletak to me.." and it's just extra polite. The exact meaning of it was written down as,

"What you are saying is not relevant to me, and it is a waste of very valuable time to let you continue to speak. I do not mean any offense to you, and agree that your information is exciting and vital to some, but I am not a member of that group. Please stop talking."

Which pretty effectively and politely gets across what needs to be said.

... any indication I've needed to use this recently? ^^

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