MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Analysis of hotel jargon and slang Bachelor thesis
Brno 2015
Supervisor: Mgr. Radek Vogel, Ph.D.
Author: Ivan Marousek
Prohlášení
Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracoval samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů.
Brno, 23. listopad 2015
…….………………… Ivan Marousek
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Radek Vogel, Ph.D. for his valued help and comments.
MAROUSEK, Ivan. Analysis of hotel jargon and slang; Bachelor Thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2015. 77 pp. Supervisor: Mgr. Radek Vogel, Ph.D.
Annotation This bachelor thesis deals with hotel jargon and analyses its use in the hotel environment, tourist industry and catering in both written and spoken forms. Its aim is to prove whether hotel professionals are always aware of the meaning of jargon words they use when communicating among themselves and when dealing with their actual and prospective customers. The theoretical part consists of three main sections. The first section contains the historical overview, describes the development of the hotel industry and suggests the typical structure of a hotel. The aim of the second section is to describe jargon and slang, compare them, and explain the role of jargon in the hotel industry. The following section describes the linguistic features of jargon and names the main word formation processes we may encounter when analysing hotel jargon. The last part aims to define jargon from the perspective of sociolinguistics and explain the role of jargon in a social group. The practical part consists of an analysis of the data obtained from a real hotel environment, examines the frequency of occurrence of jargon described in the theoretical part and focuses on its detailed analysis. The anticipated conclusions are that the majority of new hotel jargon comes from the English language, and the most frequent form of new jargon is acronym created from English business words or phrases. Another anticipated outcome of the survey is that people working in a hotel use jargon to encourage in-group solidarity and they consider jargon the most effective way of communication in their working environment.
Key words: jargon, slang, language variation, functional shift, word-formation, semantic change, hotel organisation, sociolinguistics
MAROUSEK, Ivan. Analýza hotelového žargonu a slangu; bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, pedagogická fakulta, katedra anglického jazyka a literatury, 2015. 77 stran. Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Mgr. Radek Vogel, Ph.D.
Anotace Bakalářská práce se zaobírá hotelovým žargonem, analyzuje jeho využití v hotelovém prostředí, turismu a restauračním provozu v jeho písemné a mluvené podobě. Cílem této práce je ověřit, zdali lidé pracující v hotelnictví rozumí žargonu, který běžně používají při komunikaci mezi sebou samými nebo při komunikaci s jejich klienty. Teoretický úvod obsahuje tři hlavní části. První část popisuje historii hotelnictví a jeho vývoj, dále pak přináší stručný popis jednotlivých oddělení hotelového provozu. Cílem druhé části práce je definování pojmů žargon a slang, jejich vzájemné porovnání a vysvětlení významu žargonu v hotelnictví. Následující sekce popisuje lingvistické prvky žargonu, vyjmenovává a popisuje hlavní slovotvorné procesy uplatňující se při tvorbě nových slov. Závěrečná část pak popisuje žargon z pohledu sociolingvistiky a vysvětluje význam žargonu v sociálních skupinách. Praktická část práce analyzuje data získaná v reálném hotelovém prostředí, zkoumá četnost výskytu žargonu a zaměřuje se na detailní rozbor jednotlivých forem žargonu. Práce potvrzuje předpoklad, že většina novotvarů hotelového žargonu pochází z anglického jazyka, a že nejčastější forma současného hotelového žargonu jsou akronymy anglických obchodních slov a frází. Cílem dotazníkového šetření je ověření hypotézy, zdali lidé pracující v hotelnictví chápou žargon jako prostředek k udržování a posilování profesní identity a považují žargon za nejefektivnější způsob komunikace mezi příslušníky v daném oboru.
Klíčová slova: žargon, slang, jazyková varianta, funkční změna, slovotvorba, sémantická změna, hotel, organizace, sociolingvistika
Contents 1.
Introduction ...................................................................................................... 8
2.
Origins of tourism and its development into a professional field of business . 9 2.1.
Defining travel and tourism: are they really an industry? .......................... 12
2.2.
The hotel industry as a profession .............................................................. 12
2.3.
The learned professions.............................................................................. 13
2.4.
The near profession .................................................................................... 14
2.5.
The would-be profession ............................................................................ 14
3.
The typical structure of a hotel and its departments ...................................... 16 3.1.
Food and beverage department .................................................................. 16
3.2.
Sales and marketing department ................................................................ 17
3.3.
Room Department ...................................................................................... 17
3.4.
Accounting Department ............................................................................. 17
3.5.
Personnel Department ................................................................................ 18
4.
Professional jargon and slang ........................................................................ 18 4.1.
Defining jargon .......................................................................................... 18
4.2.
Defining slang ............................................................................................ 19
4.3.
Difference between jargon and slang ......................................................... 20
4.4.
The role of jargon ....................................................................................... 21
4.5.
Different classifications of jargon .............................................................. 23
5.
Jargon and its use in a hotel ........................................................................... 24 5.1.
Back of the house jargon ............................................................................ 25
5.1.1. Advertising jargon ............................................................................... 25
5.2.
Front of the house jargon ........................................................................... 27
5.2.1. Food jargon .......................................................................................... 27 6.
Linguistic features of jargon .......................................................................... 29 6.1.
Word-formation processes ......................................................................... 30
6.1.1. Conversion or functional shift ............................................................. 31 6.1.2. Derivation ............................................................................................ 31 6.1.3. Abbreviation ........................................................................................ 32 6.1.4. Compounds .......................................................................................... 32 6.1.5. Borrowings or loan words.................................................................... 33 6.1.6. Back formation .................................................................................... 33 6.1.7. Reduplication ....................................................................................... 34 6.2.
Semantic changes in the lexicon ................................................................ 34
6.2.1. Metaphor .............................................................................................. 34 6.2.2. Metonymy ............................................................................................ 35 7.
Usage of jargon according to sociolinguistics ............................................... 35 7.1.
Language and Society ................................................................................ 36
7.2.
Language variation ..................................................................................... 38
8.
9.
Introduction to the analytical part .................................................................. 39 8.1.
The origin of data ....................................................................................... 40
8.2.
Nominal data .............................................................................................. 41
8.3.
Analysis of obtained data ........................................................................... 41 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 51
Works cited .............................................................................................................. 53 Appendices............................................................................................................... 56
List of illustrations: Figure 1: Hotel organization .................................................................................... 16 Figure 2: Process of communication ....................................................................... 37 Figure 3: Return rate of questionnaires.................................................................... 41 Figure 4: What is hotel jargon?................................................................................ 42 Figure 5: Jargon words from Czech hotels in numbers ........................................... 45 Figure 6: Hotel jargon words from English speaking countries in numbers ........... 48
List of tables: Table 1: Examples of jargon terms used by the hotel management ........................ 23 Table 2: A set of jargon words used in Czech hotel industry .................................. 45 Table 3: A set of hotel jargon words used in English speaking countries ............... 47
1. Introduction Jargon is a language, which describes and defines the world in which its user lives and works. The motivation to use jargon differs from the position and experience of its user. A person who is new in a field may be reluctant to use jargon, yet someone who has been working in this field for a long time shows tendencies to use jargon more often. Every profession has its unique set of words, which enables its users to communicate more efficiently and to exclude outsiders, who can be a threat and danger. Jargon is sometimes described as being a bad language as it can be misunderstood or not understood at all. Politicians use jargon to cover the truth, manipulate, advertising companies are enchanted by the power of jargon to sell products and people in power exploit jargon for its ability to penetrate the minds of crowds. Others call jargon a language of professions or intelligible talk. Jargon does not consist of mere words; it is always connected with societies, cultures and subcultures. Jargon lives and talks through different professions and even if it may lead to misunderstandings, we should embrace jargon as a variety of language that enriches our vocabulary and makes our communication more effective. The following chapters try to describe jargon and its many varieties from different perspectives. The chief concern of the work is to map the role of jargon in the hotel environment where jargon undoubtedly thrives as a hotel is about people. Hotels consist of many professions, and they all strive for one thing. They want to be recognized as a profession with the right for its language. People in hotels are aware of the fact that a certain type of language is a ticket to success and a better life. Thanks to language, we can exchange ideas, communicate across continents and share knowledge. Jargon plays a vital role in each profession and without jargon; a profession would eventually die.
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2. Origins of tourism and its development into a professional field of business To understand the complexity of the modern hotel industry, we have to look back in time and trace the early stages of this field of human activity. Books intended for students in hospitality also pay attention to the history and development. The opening chapter of this bachelor thesis mentions a few milestones in the history of the hotel industry. The book TOURISM, Principles, Practices, Philosophies translated into the Czech language by Lucie Schürerová, brings a useful overview that describes the development of the hotel industry from ancient times to the modern days. In the book, we can read that the beginnings of modern tourism reach back to ancient times and they are closely connected with the invention of money. People soon realized they could pay for transport and accommodation with money. Already 5.000 years ago, the first entertainment cruises were organized from Egypt, and we still have many artefacts left by travellers in the form of ―graffiti‖
1
on
monuments from the ancient world. At this time, it is too early to talk about tourism, and it takes a very long time before the term ―tourism‖ is used. Another milestone contributing to the development of tourism was the invention of the wheel and the construction of the road system. The first road-architects were Sumerians. The long routes, as for example The Silk Road with its 6000 km in length, followed and enabled the exchange of goods and knowledge. With the development of travel began the development of lodging establishments. The first places were very basic and offered their visitors only a roof over their heads. In the years 2000 BC – 500 AD the areas around the Mediterranean Sea underwent a revolution in travel. People started to travel not only for business purposes but
1
Graffiti (/ɡrəˈfiːti/; Italian: [ɡrafˈfiːti]; plural of graffito: "a graffito", but "these graffiti") are
writing or drawings that have been scribbled, scratched, or painted illicitly on a wall or other surface, often in a public place. Graffiti range from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and they have existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire. (Wikipedia)
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also for other reasons as are visiting festivals, games, sacred places or for educational and treatment purposes. With such a large amount of people on the roads, more and more establishments providing lodging started to be constructed. As early as around 2000 AD the first inns began to appear providing security and small amount of comfort to travellers and their animals (Goeldner and Brent 33-37).
In 1838, Marie-Henri Beyle writes his Mémoires d’un touriste and spreads the word tourist, which has remained in use until modern times (Goeldner and Brent 52). The majority of authors agree that the beginnings of modern tourism initiated the aristocracy and journeymen with their trips for gaining experience in different areas of business, but the real boom in tourism began in the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century, also known as‖ the century of steam‖, many technical inventions (a steam engine and later a diesel engine) mobilized the nations and caused a rapid development of accommodation and catering services. The first inventor of organized tourism was the Englishman Thomas Cook, whose Sunday trips to the English countryside can be looked upon as the first organized sightseeing tours. With the development of spas, Karl Bädeker began to issue the first guides containing maps, plans, suggested routes and details about points of interest and gave them a professional, modern look. At the end of the nineteenth century arises the first Social Democratic movement, which aims to promote recreation and travel facilities (Hesková 40-43).
David Litteljohn explains the etymology of the word hotel in his chapter devoted to the structure and characteristics of a hotel in the book ―The International Hospitality Industry.‖ According to him, the actual term hotel is originally French and was commonly applied to commercial hospitality establishments in the mid- to late eighteen century (Brotherton 6).
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J. Vallen adds more facts and explains the contemporary use of the word hotel. He says the following: The word hotel appeared in London about 1760, and it began to be used in the United Stated some three decades later. It was anglicized from the French hotel garni, ―large, furnished mansion.‖ The name change signalled a worldwide shift from an industry based on roadside accommodation to one located within the city. (Vallen and Vallen 5) The first modern hotel opened in 1829 in Boston. In those days, private households provided the accommodation services and the owners treated their guests like the members of the family. These establishments turned into first hotels working more or less as modern hotels (Goeldner and Brent 50). The first hotels were along the traveller‘s routes and reflected more inclination rather than the needs of the guests. Hotels were not the primary destination of the traveller, and they were not as differentiated as we know them today. The solemn purpose was to provide shelter and an opportunity to rest from longwearing travel. Modern hotels with their exciting architecture appealing to the wealthy class started to appear in America between the Civil War and World War I. These ―Palaces of the People‖ became places for social gatherings, offices and meeting places. The modern era of tourism is called, ―The Age of Service‖ and hotels and their services are no longer determined by an isolated innkeeper but by societal pressures of large enterprises. Hotels became closely connected to the economy, life style and the pressure to respond quickly to changing technologies. All this is a perfect environment for the creation of specialised vocabulary that characterizes tourism and its many areas of operations (Vallen and Vallen 5-6). David Litteljohn laments over the Western (European/ USA) conventional views of hotels. He claims that according to this view hotels are characterized as ―….establishments that offer meals and drink together with accommodation to travellers and local markets, in return for a financial exchange.‖ He urges the Western community to look at the problem of defining hotels from an international perspective. He states that, ―From an international perspective it is important to understand that hotel may be considered as a culturally bound phenomenon‖ (Brotherton 6). 11
Non-western cultures see hotels as a colourful environment where different cultures meet, there is no doubt that these cultures also contribute to the creation of new words, which capture the uniqueness of their approaches. How many of these words become internationally known or classified jargon is almost impossible to establish.
2.1. Defining travel and tourism: are they really an industry? Despite the fact that tourism is one of the top three industries in most states, it has still not gained the status of a legitimate industry, and its importance is still underscored. Thomas Lea Davidson suggests that: ―referring to tourism as an industry may be a major contributor to the misunderstanding, resistance and even hostility that often plague proponents of travel and tourism as worthy economic forces in a modern economy‖ (Theobald 22). Despite this point of view people involved in the development and marketing of tourism have made a considerable effort to create the impression that tourism is worthy of being compared to other industries such as health services or agriculture. Across states and continents, there are different definitions of what is to be considered as tourist industry. Many definitions lack to tackle the problem as a whole, and no universal definition of the tourist industry is available, which prevents the study of the tourist industry as an independent discipline (Goeldner and Brent 5). The modern tourist industry nevertheless evokes specialists‘ interest in many fields, and many studies have been made to address specific problems in the field. The following chapter discusses the problem of the tourist industry as a profession and its right to have and create jargon words on its own.
2.2. The hotel industry as a profession Hudson distinguishes in his book The Jargon of the Professions three different types of professions. He names them ―The Learned Professions, The Near-Professions and 12
The Would-be Professions‖. Hudson excluded The Politicians and the Military, as well as Literature and the Arts and treats them separately. According to Hudson, the tourist industry does not deserve the status of a profession. He recognizes the groups by a complex of characteristics and the following requirements: 1. Full membership must be permitted only to those who have reached a satisfactory standard of training, and a document was issued to successful candidates. 2. Conditional membership (e.g. lasts only if the member observes conditions of behaviour and competence). 3. Removal of those who are unfit to practise under the direct control of the professional body. (8) Also, others see the problem similarly and are against the naming of tourism a profession. Thomas Lea Davidson claims that tourism is more than a profession; it is a ―sector‖, which affects a wide range of industries. He concludes, ―Tourism is not just business or governments – it is people‖ (Theobald 28). In line with Davidson, Peter Robinson states, ―Tourism is comprised of many different industries and is closely related to economic, environmental and social issues. This can lead to a disagreement as a result of different perspectives through which it is understood by different actors within the tourist product‖ (Robinson xxix). Consequently, we can assume that the specific vocabulary used in the tourist industry will be rich in jargon as many different industries contribute to the whole. If we talk about the tourist industry, we talk about phenomena, which are centred around a tourist and many different sectors are contributing to the whole image.
2.3. The learned professions The learned professions, according to Hudson, are church, medicine and law, and there is no reason to add to this list. These professions have a long history and much of their specialized terminology was in Latin. Therefore, their professional jargon is part Latin, part 13
English (35). They enjoy a considerable social prestige and entry into them always has been restricted to men who followed a course in the humanities and were accepted as scholars. Hudson claims that these professions are the less productive group of jargon producers. The use of jargon in these professions leads to clarity and economy of communication among its members. In the last decade, the field of medicine shows a tendency to employ jargon words as the public is penetrating more into its former secrets (15-35).
2.4. The near profession According to Hudson, near profession is a profession that seems likely to achieve full status in the near future. Examples of this category are teaching, psychology and sociology. These vocations are together with vocations of would-be professions the leading jargon producers. Hudson adds the following facts to support his statement: In their fanatic effort to create a special language, they find themselves often in a position of being found funny. They push technical and scientific language outside their proper boundaries and use it where a natural language would be more appropriate. Unfortunately, this type of jargon thrives by being respected and promoted in learned journals. (83-86)
2.5. The would-be profession To this group belong professions in which the aspirations of their members seem unlikely to be realized in the near future. Its members are trying hard to reach the status of a branch of science, but they understand that this is something they can never achieve. The principal examples of this group are the advertisers and those concerned with business management (Hudson 83,104). In addition, tourism is considered by many to be a would-be profession, and as Thomas Lea Davidson points out, ―Historically, tourism has not been taken seriously by economists, economic developers, even governments. Tourism is seen as
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fun and games, recreation, leisure, unproductive. Under this view, tourism is just the opposite of the traditional work ethic‖ (Theobald 22). Would-be professions are easy to accuse of jargon use. The fundamental reason is that these professions had to invent their specialized vocabulary or give new meanings to old words. Consequently, what they say and write must sound like jargon (Hudson 33). From our point of view, we can include in this category professions of hotel business management, sales representatives and advertisers. In response, people involved in the business of tourism undertook to gain respect by defining tourism as an industry and proving this by measuring the economic impact of the tourist industry (Theobald 23).
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3. The typical structure of a hotel and its departments A hotel consists of several departments with different organization patterns. The main function of a hotel is to provide the tourist with a place to stay. Hotels also offer food and drinks; it is a base to explore the surrounding area, a source of local tourist information, and various ancillary services such as laundry, telephone services and Internet connection. Many hotels also provide business services, including meeting facilities and conference centres (Robinson 3). Rutherford and O‘Fallon construct the organization in a hotel as shown in the following figure (78-81). Figure 1: Hotel organization
3.1. Food and beverage department The primary function of this department is to provide food and drink to the hotel guests and sometimes to cater the employees during their work (serving lunch or dinner if these fall into their work shifts). The size of this department can vary and is dependent on 16
the number of rooms and offered services. This department belongs to the so-called ―front of the house‖ as their employees are in everyday contact with hotel guests.
3.2. Sales and marketing department This department is relatively small in comparison with the other departments of the hotel. It is one that is excluded from everyday contact with guests and, therefore, is called ―back of the house‖. The structure of this department is determined by the needs and by the type of the hotel‘s customers. If needed, an individual manager can handle the corporate accounts, conventions, or tour and travel markets.
3.3. Room Department The room department carries out the main function of lodging of the hotel. It has a number of subunits each with a very specific task. The front office and housekeeping departments are in daily contact with the hotel guests and, therefore, contribute to the image of the hotel. These professions require special behaviour, a dress-code and communication skills. The front office personnel greet guests upon their arrival to the hotel. They assign rooms and deal with guests during their stay in the hotel. Reservations handles taking new reservations and tracking changes in them. The housekeeping department is responsible for cleaning all guest rooms and public spaces. Hotel security supervises the public areas of the hotel contributing to the safety of all hotel guests. The engineering department handles the maintenance of the entire hotel plant and performs minor repairs and renovations.
3.4. Accounting Department The main function of this department is managing all to do with money. It includes documenting all financial transactions, preparing and interpreting financial statements, providing management with timely reports and auditing the transactions made in the front 17
office department. Responsibilities include payroll preparation, accounts receivable, and accounts payable.
3.5. Personnel Department The hotel‘s personnel department is a staff organization that plays a vital role in the efficient operating of a hotel. Among the tasks it performs belong employee recruitment, management of benefits and in-house training. The personnel department may recruit, interview and screen prospective employees, but the manager of the department in question takes the final decision.
4. Professional jargon and slang 4.1. Defining jargon Hudson offers a very simple key test to define jargon. If something can be said more simply without the communication suffering the process than we deal with jargon (4). Jargon is not an invention of recent times as we can trace the word ―jargon‖ to 14th century Old French. The modern meaning of the word jargon is sometimes misinterpreted and according to Paula Caudle, we have three definitions of this word: One current or modern definition of jargon is ―an outlandish, technical language of a particular profession, group, or trade‖. Another meaning is ―unintelligible writing or talk‖. Another definition is ―specific dialects resulting from a mixture of several languages‖. (1999) Yule proposes that jargon is specialized vocabulary used inside social groups (211). Finegan is of the same opinion and defines jargon as specialist terms used by a group with shared specialized interest when engaged in activities surrounding those interests. Jargon is associated with professions such as finance, medicine and with activities such as sports, music, and computing (322).
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Kenneth Hudson pleads to distinguish between jargon and a technical language. He claims that each profession has its special terminology. Such terminology is not, in itself, jargon even if everybody cannot understand its meaning. He calls such terms technical language without which its members cannot think or express themselves. He stresses that, ―The easiest way to kill a profession is to forbid a use of its characteristic language.‖ Technical language is according to him essential to convey the precise meaning. Hudson thus distinguishes three different levels of technicality (high-technicality, mediumtechnicality and low-technicality language). Only the professionals understand the hightechnicality language while low-technicality language is more understandable to a wider audience (1-5). For the defence of the use of technical language Hudson wrote: Without precise, agreed terms, theories cannot be worked out, research loses itself in a maze of ambiguity and communication among members of what is claimed to be a profession degenerates into intellectual chaos, as a game of chess or football inevitably would, if the rules were not laid down in advance. (90)
4.2. Defining slang Slang is typically used by people outside established higher-status groups. Yule speculates that slang can be called ‗colloquial speech‘, describing words or phrases that are used instead of everyday terms among speakers with special interest. Slang normally relates to a group of people who define themselves as part of a certain social group with particular values and beliefs (211). In the book The People's Poetry Adams quoted that, ―Jargon is used by a particular group of people, often deliberately created and used to exclude people outside the group. It is accepted that slang belongs to an 'in-group' language, the use of which designates who belongs to a group and who does not‖ (8). Finegan supports Adam‘s point of view and claims that, ―slang is used in situations of extreme informality and may signal rebellious undertones or an intentional distancing 19
from mainstream values‖. Another typical feature of slang is according to Finegan its short life and tendency to change quickly (320). The contrast between ―slang‖ and ―jargon‖ can therefore be most visible in institutional formal speech and in the speech of group of peers2 who share certain knowledge and have a common background. In other words, people use a specific vocabulary to express their social status and importance and to distinguish themselves from others.
4.3. Difference between jargon and slang To be able to understand the meaning of jargon, one should firstly draw a line between jargon and slang. People often believe that both words ―slang‖ and ―jargon‖ convey the same meaning and this can lead to misconceptions about the role of jargon. Wright in Hudson distinguishes between jargon and slang in terms of the seriousness of the language and says: The specialized technical language of different occupation and interest is fundamentally impersonal and serious, whilst slang is basically friendly and humorous. To the layman a chemical equation, and to advertisements for products, including, ingredients X,Y and Z‗ are meaningless jargon. (2) Keith also considers jargon more linguistically conservative in comparison with slang expressions. He claims that specialized content words are difficult to replace while slang ages much faster. A typical example is the slang of schoolchildren with the fastest turnover of all (71). Hudson, on the other hand, claims that it is not easy to separate jargon from slang because jargon is no longer confined to previously described senses. The meaning of jargon became wider with unclear boundaries. He adds that Americans name jargon
2
Peers are people who are the same age as you or who have the same type of job or social position (Longman Active Study Dictionary 487).
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―gobbledygook‖3 and connect its meaning with pompous and flabby verbosity. Hudson disagrees with the idea that jargon words belong only to a certain field of human activity. He underlines that, ‖jargon has been handled so promiscuously of recent years that the edge has been taken off it, and now, as has been well said, it signifies little more than any speech that a person feels to be inferior to his own‖ (2-3).
4.4. The role of jargon Locker in his writing speculates about the role of business jargon and contributes to the topic by saying the following: Jargon became a part of business letters since at least 1589 and persisted there because people think that business letters should use jargon and because jargon enables authors to write or dictate quickly. Jargon was invented to make the communication more effective and give it a specific style, which would recognize the field of business to which it is applied. ('As Per Your Request': A History of Business Jargon 1987) The definition of jargon has been moved to a further stage in the last century as the society discovered the power of the jargon. Hudson proposes that, ―jargon is a word, which can indicate intention and effect, as well as characteristic and help us to identify society‘s enemies more closely‖ (3). He suggests that jargon contains four essential elements: 1. It reflects a particular profession or occupation. 2. It is pretentious, with only a small kernel of meaning underneath it. 3. It is used mainly by intellectually inferior people, who feel a need to convince the general public of their importance. 4. It is, deliberately or accidentally, mystifying
3
In American English, the general term for bureaucratese is gobbledygook, whereas in British and Australian English the sense of this word has generalized to mean ‗(any type of) incomprehensible language‘ (Allan and Burridge 63).
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The use of jargon can be addictive, and it is said that many people can stop using jargon only when they reach the top of their profession. People climbing the social ladder are afraid to use straightforward language and some of them appear to need their jargon, as a membership-badge of their profession (3).
Interesting about the use of jargon is whether its user covers an uncertainty and uses jargon to secure his position. Theodor W. Adorno suggests: The interested parties who use the jargon as a means of power, or depend on their public image for the jargon‘s social-psychological effect, will never wean themselves from it. There are others, who will be embarrassed by the jargon. Even followers who believe in authority will shy away from ridiculousness, as soon as they feel the fragile nature of that authority to which they look for support―. (xixxx)
Adorno warns against the surplus of jargon in the speaker‘s speech and says, ―Whoever is versed in the jargon does not have to say what he thinks, does not even have to think it properly. The jargon takes over this task and devaluates thought― (6). For that reason, we can hear jargon in situations where the speaker avoids telling the truth or declares something, and hides behind jargon still delivering a message to the audience. Friedman supports the theory about the power of jargon and its influence on people‘s minds. Jargon can be used to achieve the right impression, but one must use jargon in the right context. Friedman claims, ―People use jargon because they want to sound smart and credible when, in fact, they sound profoundly dim-witted and typically can‘t be understood, which defeats the purpose of speaking in the first place‖ (89).
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A typical feature of jargon is its ability to be understood only by people who have a particular knowledge of the field in which this word is usually used (Llamas, Mullany and Stockwell 218). A person who is not familiar with this field can be very confused about the meaning and many times, he does not know the meaning of the word at all. In the following table, there are some examples of jargon words from a hotel industry. Table 1: Examples of jargon terms used by the hotel management (Wyatt)
Source: Kevin, Wyatt. "Hotel Jargon Buster." The Tin. A BSI Company, n.d. Web. 08 September 2015. PDF
4.5. Different classifications of jargon Scholars agree that jargon relates to certain professions and activities; therefore, we can find many different types of jargon. How many categories of jargon exist in the world is impossible to establish. Many published jargon dictionaries illustrate the diversity of jargon varieties. Pechter claims that jargon has always been with us because it is a function of the difference. For Pechter, jargon is not a quality embedded in words, but an interpretative category generated out of diversity. He claims that jargon is the kind of language used by people who think differently from us. Out of this arises the problem of the classification of jargon, as today there is a growing number of people who seem to be using it (171-73).
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In addition to the traditional division of jargon according to an occupational field, Hudson proposes new categories of jargon based rather on its diversity in use. Jargon can, according to Hudson, not only communicate facts but also express the power, advertise or hide the truth. Hudson recognizes various types of jargon, which he defines on the base of its various usages. These categories are advertising jargon, business jargon, caste jargon, cumulative jargon, in-house jargon, near-jargon, steroid jargon, resume jargon, cover the truth jargon and legal jargon (Hudson 5+). Adorno takes another point of view in the classification of jargon and coins the term ―formal jargon‖. Adorno warns against formal jargon and says that such jargon wants to be recognised through its mere delivery without respecting the content of the words used. If jargon disappeared out of such a speech, it would become mock. The words of jargon sound higher than what they really mean. Adorno connects formal jargon with professional groups that carry on intellectual work, which are dependent and economically weak. For these people, jargon is a ―professional illness‖ (5-13). Moony highlights jargon‘s ability to provoke awe in an audience and emphasizes the connection between jargon and power. He writes, ―People in a position of power often speak (and write) in a way that others find difficult to understand. At the same time, being able to use jargon is part of establishing and protecting power.‖ An example of power jargon is military jargon and the jargon of politicians (6).
5. Jargon and its use in a hotel Hotels, like every other profession, necessarily have their special terminology, without which their members cannot think or express themselves. Special language should help us to communicate more efficiently, and it is not a crime if we talk in the manner that other people do not understand our message. Jargon or technical language is sometimes the only possibility how to say something particular. If we stop using this particular vocabulary, we are on the best way to stop this industry from thriving (Hudson 5). From these words, we can deduct that language, and particularly special vocabulary, help the profession to distinguish itself from the outer word and gain identity and power. 24
5.1. Back of the house jargon As described in Chapter 2, sales and marketing departments are called back of the house because these departments are not in face-to-face contact with hotel clients. Nevertheless, both departments play an important role in the economy of the hotel. The economic success of the hotel is dependent on its sales and marketing strategies, which originate in these departments. In the competitive business environment, it is necessary to be recognized and distinguished from others. Hotels are often employing jargon words to their advertisements and business talks to achieve this goal. For this reason, Hudson states that sales representatives and advertisers create a formidable amount of jargon each year. Both groups are exceptionally interested in the possibilities of words, and their sole interest is to exalt advantages and conceal the flaws of whatever they try to sell (104-05).
5.1.1. Advertising jargon Brochures and catalogues are the main forms of advertising in the hotel industry. They describe the services and contain pictures for illustration. Especially travel agents use this form of advertising. They use high quality paper and elaborate print techniques to impress potential clients. For this reason, many hotels use poetic expressions and jargon words to impress and differentiate themselves from others (Horner and Swaarbroke 208, 214). Local language and expressions are often used to meet this goal. Thus, a tourist can encounter words, which can be incomprehensible and confusing. Advertisers name their lodging facilities as a ―casita village‖ (the word of Spanish origin), or ―paradors‖ (historic mansions in Spain converted into luxury hotels), ―Gondolas‖ are prepared to take Alpine skiers up the hill and many kilometres of well- prepared ―loipes‖ wait for cross-country skiers in mountain resorts. When the day is over, all guests are welcomed to enjoy the fun at ―après-ski‖ facilities (Míšková 41).
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Hudson describes the reasons for employing jargon in advertisement fittingly: Business is subject to two quite different linguistic pressures. On the one hand there is the never ending search for the new, even more arresting phrase, which will give a firm the edge over its rivals, and on the other, the wish to tone words down, to make them less dangerous, less precise, less likely to blow up in the face of person who uses them. (122) Geoffrey N. Leech in Hudson writes that jargon is a powerful tool in advertising and he adds the term ―strategic semantics―. According to Leech, it is the art of delivering meanings, which influence the selling effectiveness of an advertisement (156). A major weapon in the selling campaign for many hotels is the creation of new vocabulary or use of euphemisms in order to up-to-date old-fashioned terms. Another tool for advertisers is the set of certain words, which evoke feelings of dynamism. Preferred words in the hospitality industry are executive (e.g. executive resort, executive floor), generous, major, limited, and substantial. The hospitality industry is an activity world. Therefore, words of constant movement are favoured (Hudson 119-21).
People working in advertising are aware of the commercial importance of advertising jargon. They know very well that people like to feel that they are getting value for money when they make their purchases. An effective way of giving satisfaction is to dress the goods up in fine-sounding language. In the repertoire of sales representatives, we find old words connected with aristocracy like reception room, breakfast room, hall with cloaks, weekend residence. By a skilful blending of such words and pictures, the most unlikely person can be persuaded to buy a stay in the advertised establishment (Hudson 106-7).
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5.2. Front of the house jargon The reception and restaurant departments are also called Front of the house departments because guests are in daily contact with the employees of these. The employees of the aforementioned departments have to comply with the image of the hotel and with the duties assigned to them by their employer. One part of the corporate image is the manner of speech of its employees. The general definition of the image according to French sociologist Guye Debord is that it is a way of broader communication, a picture of the person himself, which this person communicates with his environment. One of the elements of the image is the way we talk, and when we are a part of a professional business, we use its special vocabulary. The use of jargon belongs to the category of corporate culture, which derives from values set in a corporate philosophy and influences the process of internal communication (Hesková 144). One category of the front of the house jargon is worth mentioning in a separate chapter. It is food jargon, which is present in the restaurant department of a hotel and does not appear in the practical part of the thesis. Food jargon contributes to the whole image of the tourist industry by its presence in the talk of waiters and bartenders and the written form in menus and advertisements.
5.2.1. Food jargon The restaurant department generates a significant portion of the hotel‘s income. Western clients expect that the hotel and restaurant are mutually conditioned, thus people in charge of advertising of a hotel often include in their offers the hotel restaurant‘s special banqueting facilities. This strategy can on the other hand be the decisive impulse for the client to buy a promoted hotel. Often the restaurant itself can be the reason clients book a particular hotel, especially when connected with a famous destination known for its culinary quality and local specialities (Horner and Swaarbroke 352-53). Kenneth Hudson states that the ultimate food jargon in the English-speaking world is the ―kind of French‖ that gives menus a more distinguished flavour than the food they 27
describe. In his opinion, the food writers produce a special jargon of their own with the aim to grade up every dish on offer. In order to achieve this, they produce the prose-poem type of menu (81). Most likely, we are going to see main courses and specialities described in jargon language consisting of fine sounding French words and long descriptions full of adjectives. Such description should suggest that only the finest ingredients and ways of preparation have been used to prepare a unique dish. Here are some expressions used to describe dishes: appetizing, baby, chilled, cool, colourful, creamy, crispy, crunchy, crusty, delicate, delicious, exotic, fine, imperial, frozen, iced, irresistible, light, royal, sharp, sparkling, still, thick, thin baked, browned, diced, glazed, grated, freshly: fried, , ground, grilled, jellied, melted, minced, poached, steamed, stuffed, etc (Míšková 112). One nice example provided by Míšková illustrates the use of food jargon in hotel‘s menu. Unlike Hudson, Míšková praises the appetizing description of the menu and sets it in sharp contrast with a jargon free menu. Here we can compare the difference between these two menus: A jargon free menu: ―Welsh Rarebit with bacon and mushrooms on toast points.‖ A menu employing plenty of food jargon words: ―Coach House Welsh Rarebit – melted snappy aged cheese blended with ale, our special seasonings, hickory smoked bacon and fresh mushrooms, piping hot in a casserole.‖ (112) From the example given, we can see that food jargon likes many adjectives, and it sometimes passes beyond absurdity and exaggeration and into sheer nonsense. Hudson states that this manner of writing menus is aimed at snobs, and it is jargon at its most immoral (82).
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6. Linguistic features of jargon Jargon consists of terms and words used elsewhere in a different sense or perhaps not used anywhere else at all; talk, including newspaper and magazine articles that deal with specialized topics and display jargon (Finegan 322). Based on the aforementioned usage, we can encounter jargon in its many different linguistic forms. The first linguistic form that comes up in our minds is a word. Scholars, though, hesitate to call elements of jargon inventory words for several reasons. The following paragraphs describe some of these problems. Firstly, we have to look at what the term ―word‖ means in linguistics. One of many definitions of the term ―word‖ is that it is the most typical naming unit, and it is free to take up a different position in a sentence (Vogel 15). Černý states that a word is the laic term and in linguistics, it is connected with many problems. The same lexical meaning can be expressed in different languages by a various number of words, and it is still one lexical meaning. Therefore, linguists prefer other terms such as a form, a moneme, or a lexical unit (63). Finegan writes, ―The most tangible elements of language are its words.‖ He says to define a word we have to examine its parts and its function in sentences. A word can be one meaningful unit or has several meaningful parts. These parts can be words themselves or meaningful parts smaller than a word. A proper usage of word requires according to Finegan four kinds of information: • Its sounds and their sequencing (this is called phonological information) • Its meanings (semantic information) • How related words such as the plural (for nouns) and the past tense (for verbs) are formed (morphological information) • Its category (e.g., noun or verb) and how to use it in a sentence (syntactic information). (35)
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Fromkin emphasizes that languages make an important distinction between two kinds of words – content words and function words. Content words are such words, which denote concepts such as objects, actions, attributes, and ideas. The group of content words also known as open class words is constantly growing by the process of word-formation processes. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are the example of content words (38-39). Function words do not have clear lexical meanings or concepts associated with them. Function words or closed class words are a relatively stable group, and no new words enrich this group. The function of these words is purely grammatical, and the rules of syntax require them. Typical examples of this category are articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and pronouns. For our needs, we can ignore the function words because all jargon words are content words connected with objects, actions, attributes, and ideas.
6.1. Word-formation processes The next problem we should answer is how jargon expands its vocabulary. According to Finegan, languages have three principal ways of extending their vocabulary and thus: New words develop from existing words and word parts. Words can be ―borrowed‖ from another language. New words can be made up, created from scratch. (46) In line with Finegan, Malmkjær says that jargon and slang create new expressions by inventing or reworking words according to the semantic possibilities of a language, and form expressions according to its morphological potential. Jargon employs the standard processes of word formation in English. The most common are compounding, blending, derivation, borrowing, functional shift, clipping, abbreviation and acronym. The products of these processes are new words that result in important technical meaning (492). Word-formation processes are variably productive but constantly in operation to expand the lexicon as new meanings emerge, social and technological changes take place, and individuals create new forms (Malmkjær 372). The next paragraphs deal with the 30
aforementioned word-formation processes, which we can recognize in various linguistic forms of jargon.
6.1.1. Conversion or functional shift In some languages, a word belonging to one category can be converted to another category without any changes to the form of the word. Conversion is a change in the function of a word. Therefore, conversion can be labelled as ―category change‖ and ―functional shift.‖ Conversion can involve verbs becoming nouns (to guess a guess) and vice versa, or verbs becoming adjectives (to stand up a stand-up comedian) and vice versa. Conversion of this type commonly leads to noun/verb and noun/adjective pairs. Once a form has been shifted to a new lexical category, it conforms to the inflectional morphology of that category (Finegan 49-50).
6.1.2. Derivation The creation of new words happens by the use of derivational morphemes. These are called bound morphemes because they are added to a base, and a new meaning is derived. To create a new word by the use of derivational morphemes, we must follow the morphological rules of English. The newly created word may be of different grammatical class than the original word (Fromkin , Rodman and Hyams 47-48). There are three types of derivational morphemes. Prefixes occur before the root or stem; suffixes occur after the root or stem, and infixes occur within the root or stem. English derivation, unlike Czech, is characterized by dissociation. This means that words connected in meaning do not develop from the same base (dog – canine). Dissociation occurs because of the co-existence of Germanic, French, and Latin vocabulary in the English word-stock (Vogel 17).
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6.1.3. Abbreviation Under the term abbreviation, we shall understand a shortened form of a word. Abbreviation contributes to the economy of language (Vogel 19). Finegan lists three categories of abbreviated words. The first category is ordinary shortenings formed by clipping. New words are the shortened forms of original words, e.g. narc for narcotics. The second category of abbreviations is acronyms. These words evolve from the initial letters of several words and we pronounce them either as one word, (UNESCO, WASP) or as a sequence of letters (DVD, MTV). When we pronounce the shortenings as a sequence of letters, we talk about initialisms. The last category of abbreviated words is blends. Blends are words created by combining parts of words, e.g., motel (motor and hotel). Most blends seem to combine two nouns, but the combination of different word-classes is also possible, e.g., wannabe (a person who wants to be something other than what he is) combines verbs to want and to be. Some analysts call blends portmanteau words (45-49).
6.1.4. Compounds Two or more words may be joined to form new, compound words. Especially English is very flexible in the kinds of combinations permitted. The most common compounds in English are two-word compounds, but the upper limit is difficult to establish. Compounds can be formed by combining words from the same word-class category or by combining words from different word-class categories (Fromkin , Rodman and Hyams 60-61). The meaning is not always the sum of meanings of its components, and
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many compounds are idiomatic4. The meaning of many compounds must be learned as if they were individual lexical units.
6.1.5. Borrowings or loan words Fromkin says that linguistic borrowing occurs when a community of speakers incorporates some linguistic elements in its own language from another language. Borrowed words are generally made to adapt to the regular phonology, morphology, and syntax of the borrowing language. When the word preserves its own phonological and grammatical properties then we talk about codeswitching. Codeswitching is common with bilinguals as they switch languages between or within sentences. Linguistic borrowing is one of the primary sources causing the changes in the lexicon of many languages. Fromkin names two types of linguistic borrowing and thus direct and indirect borrowings. In direct borrowing, the loan word is a native word in a language from which we are borrowing it. In the indirect borrowing, the loan word is not a native word in a language from which we are borrowing it (461-63, 505).
6.1.6. Back formation Back formation occurs when a suffix disappears from a complex word; liaison to liaise; lecher to lech are some English examples (Malmkjær 372). According to Fromkin, back formation enriches our lexicon also by incorrect morphological analysis. For example, peddle was derived from peddler because -er was wrongly considered to be an agentive suffix. The deliberate miscast of back formation created many new words, which are in use. A topless bathing suit monokini derives from the word bikini. The word monokini was derived deliberately from the word bikini, which comes from the Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The name of the atoll was used because the first syllable bi- means ―two‖ in words like bicycle (60).
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Idiom/ idiomatic phrase: An expression whose meaning does not conform to the principle of compositionality, that is, may be unrelated to the meaning of its parts, e.g., kick the bucket meaning ―to die‖ (Fromkin , Rodman and Hyams 581).
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6.1.7. Reduplication Reduplication is the morphological process that repeats all or part of the morpheme to create a new word with a different meaning or different category. Partial reduplication repeats only part of the morpheme while full reduplication reduplicates the entire morpheme. Reduplication is not repetition, which does not create a new word but simply repeats the same word. Reduplication can have different functions in languages; it can moderate or intensify the meaning of a word. (Finegan 47).
6.2. Semantic changes in the lexicon In addition to changes in vocabulary, modifications also occur in the meanings of words. Semantic changes follow three general principles: semantic broadening, that is, extending the scope of a reference semantic narrowing, shrinking the scope of a reference and semantic shift, that is, words take on a new meaning. Semantic shift, also called metaphorical extension, creates metaphors. Metonymy is another method of semantic extension. (Malmkjær 63, 240-41).
6.2.1. Metaphor Jargon makes extensive use of metaphors, playing on and with the meaning and associations in the mind. A traditional notion of metaphor sees it as an extension of the use of a word beyond its primary sense to describe referents that bear similarities to the word‘s primary referent (Finegan 188-89). Finch says that many words acquire new senses by developing a metaphoric or transferred sense. Through metaphors, we can express our creative freedom; metaphors allow us to translate inexpressible into the expressible. Part of the power of a metaphor is its reflected meaning, that is, the user is aware when using a metaphor of its original sense. Once this reflected meaning is lost, the metaphor becomes dead (144-50). 34
6.2.2. Metonymy Metonymy is another tool of semantic transfer, that is, an attribute stands for the whole. Vogel states that it is a transfer of the naming of reality, which is related to the original one by some temporal, spatial, qualitative, functional, causal or other connection. Unlike a metaphor, metonymy essentially maintains the original meaning of the naming unit, which is subject to the shift; it is only subdued (27). For Yule the meaning found in a metonymy is based essentially on similarity and a close connection with everyday experience. He provides three different types of metonymical patterns based on close connections: Container-contents relation (bottle/water; can/juice) Whole-part relation (car/wheels; hose/roof) Representative-symbol relation (king/crown, the President/the White House) In Yule‘s words: It is our familiarity with metonymy that makes it possible for us to understand He drank the whole bottle, although it sounds absurd literally (i.e. he drank the liquid, not the glass object). We also accept The White House has announced... or Downing Street protested… without being puzzled that buildings appear to be talking. (108)
7. Usage of jargon according to sociolinguistics Because jargon interlaces with the speech of any social group, we must take into account the role of sociolinguistics in its use. Jargon serves not only to convey technical meaning but also to support in-group solidarity among the users. Etymologically, the term sociolinguistics is derived from the words socio and linguistics (Sociolinguistic). The definition of sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and society. Sociolinguistics has strong connections with 35
anthropology through the study of language and culture, and with sociology through the investigation of the role, which language plays in the organization of social groups. It also has a link to social psychology, particularly how in-group and out-group are identified (Yule 205). Gumperz in Wardhaugh states that sociolinguistics tries to find a link between social structure and linguistic structure and to study the changes that occur. Every social structure displays systematic patterns of behaviour between individuals, between groups, and between a group and an individual. Thus, sociolinguistics studies the social uses of language and the social evaluation of language variations (11).
7.1. Language and Society Any discussion of the relationship between language and society, or of the various functions of language in society, should start with the definition of these terms. A society is any group of people who are drawn together for a certain purpose and a language is what the members of a particular society speak. Consequently, speech in almost any society takes many different forms (Wardhaugh 1). According to Trask, every society has its norms for communicative behavioural patterns. These patterns are not the same everywhere; instead, they vary substantially from culture to culture (59). Černý defines a language as a means of communication among members of a social group. The principal goal is to exchange information among its users. Except the primary communicative function, language can perform other functions. These are the conative, referential, phatic, expressive, poetic, and metalingual functions. All functions above are macro-functions of a language. Language does not only serve to communicate, but it is also an important tool in the process of learning and describing the reality, which surrounds us. In this context, we talk about the cognitive and denotative functions of language (13-17). For Mooney, what counts as a language is a political, cultural and technical question. He claims that even if a group of people may share the language, they will have their individual way of using that language. Language varieties depend on the people using 36
it, and the society in which it all takes place. Language can tell us a lot about people as individuals, as members of the group, and about how people interact with other people (3).
Sociolinguistic competence is one component of communicative competences. It enables to use appropriate language in the process of communication (Yule 169).
Figure 2: Process of communication
Source: Wikipedia (1999)
Bernstein in Wardhaugh claims that individuals learn their social roles through the process of communication. This process is specific to each social group therefore role differences spread in society. Bernstein claims that every social group employs a different type of language. According to Bernstein, there are two distinct varieties of language in use in society: the formal code and the public code. The formal code uses accurate grammatical order and syntax, complex sentences and employs a range of devices for conjunction and subordination. In contrast, the public code uses short, grammatically simple, and often unfinished sentences of the poor syntactic form (337). According to Wardhaugh, there are several possible relationships between language and society. Firstly, the social structure may influence or determine the linguistic structure and the choice of words, that is, the varieties of language that speakers use to reflect upon the regional, social, or ethnic origin and even their gender. Secondly, the linguistic structure and behaviour may either influence or determine the social structure. Bernstein and Whorfian support this fact by stating languages rather than the speakers can be sexist. 37
A third possible relationship between language and society is that these can influence each other as they are in a state of constant interaction. The last possibility is to assume that both linguistic structure and social structure are fully independent (10-12). Language and society cannot be separated; they influence each other. Language is a means of communication to express an idea, attention, and thought using a system of signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols. Meanwhile, society is a group of people associated with religious, cultural, scientific, political, professional, or other purposes. A language varies and symbolizes one group among others, such as the language of people working in a hotel is different from people working in a hospital or anywhere else.
7.2. Language variation Language variations are the object of sociolinguistics and are the result of the relationship between language and social factors, such as age, sex, education, social status, professional occupation, and other factors. The principal types of language variation appear in pronunciation (accent), grammar and vocabulary (regional dialect) and the social variation (social dialects, sociolects, jargon, slang, argot) (Finegan 247+). For Mayerhoff, occupation is the key factor in assigning speakers into different socioeconomic classes because occupation has a major impact on an individual‘s status and life chances (196). Jargon is part of the register variation of a langue. Wardhaugh defines register as a set of language items associated with discrete occupational or social groups (52). Yule defines register as a conventional way of using language, which is related to a specific context. The context may be identified as situational, occupational or topical (210-11). In conclusion, some variations emerge as the result of age, sex, social class and attitude influence, i.e. jargon, register, argot, slang and style. For the use of jargon, it is typical, that it takes place in established social groups.
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8. Introduction to the analytical part The analytical part of this thesis deals with the actual use of hotel jargon in its natural environment and draws some conclusions from the data gathered in various hotels. The aims of the research are to name the main formation processes employed in the creation of new jargon, determinate the most frequent forms and specify the function of jargon in hotels. The selected type of the research work is a survey in the form of a questionnaire. The reasons for selecting this method are the following. A survey gathers data at a particular time and describes the nature of existing conditions, identifies standards against existing conditions and finally determines the relationship that exists between specific events (Cohen , Lawrence and Morrison 169). The following advantages speak for the use of a questionnaire: it is a widely used and useful instrument for collecting survey information, providing structured, often numerical data. It can be administered without the presence of the researcher, and is often prepared for a straightforward analysis. The questionnaire has an on-line format, which enables its on-screen administration, that is, responses can be entered rapidly, and data can be examined automatically, producing graphs and tables, as well as a wide range of statistics. The participants of the survey received a link to the email address, through which they could access the questionnaire. All respondents completed a questionnaire that bore absolutely no identifying marks – names, addresses or coding symbols, ensuring absolute anonymity and thus encouraging greater honesty of the answers. The design of the questionnaire, namely a structure, questionnaire items, and layout, follows Cohen‘s suggestions and useful tips for research work (245-66). The structure of the questionnaire is in the form of a semi-structured questionnaire. This form sets the agenda but does not presuppose the nature of the response. The questionnaire consists of a series of questions, statements and items and the respondent is asked to answer or comment on them in his way. The beginning of the questionnaire collects the nominal data, as is gender, the length of work experience in a hotel, department affiliation, and managerial duties. In this 39
section of the questionnaire only dichotomous and closed question can be found with one or more possible answers. The body of the questionnaire collects information about the actual usage of jargon and concrete word-forms of jargon. In this section of the questionnaire, we can find dichotomous, closed, open, multiple-choice questions, rank ordering, rating scales and rank ordering. In this part the respondents can enter the most frequent jargon words they use and think about the role of jargon in their work places. The complete questionnaire forms are included in Appendix XII of the thesis. Different types of questionnaire items enable to collect data of a different nature. Closed questions prescribe a range of responses from which the respondent can choose (dichotomous questions, multiple choice and rating scale). Dichotomous questions offer only two categories of response (usually yes/no answers) and are a sorting device for subsequent questions. Multiple-choice questions offer a range of choices to capture the likely range of responses to given statements. A rating scale contains a degree of sensitivity and differentiation of response. The other major type are open questions, which enable respondents to write a free response. Lastly, a rank ordering question requires setting a list of items into a preferred rank order. The layout of the questionnaire comes across as easy, attractive and interesting. Each question appears in a new window to avoid a compressed, clumsy layout. The questionnaire contains clear instructions and simple wording to encourage the respondents.
8.1. The origin of data All data come from the online survey, set on the platform of the company Survio.com. The questionnaire was distributed to staff in hotels in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, U.S.A., Canada, Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain, Hungary, and Rumania. The set of hotels is randomly selected, and there are no differences in the questionnaires sent to the individual hotels. In total, 358 recipients received the email with the link to the questionnaire. Out of this number, only 50 responses returned (see Fig. 3). 40
One of the disadvantages of questionnaires is a low percentage of returns (Cohen , Lawrence and Morrison 129). Figure 3: Return rate of questionnaires
50 14% Responders Non-responders 308 86%
8.2. Nominal data The majority of respondents are women with work experience of three or more years (see Charts 1 and 2 in Appendix I). More than half of the respondents work at the reception followed by a group working in hotel management, and over 50% of the respondents occupy a managerial position (see for Charts 3 and 4 in Appendix II). This situation is an ideal outcome of the survey as one of the aims of this thesis is to describe the use of jargon in the back-office and front office of hotels.
8.3. Analysis of obtained data The opening questions of the questionnaire asked the respondents to assign a definition to the word ―The hotel jargon‖. All the suggested answers connect jargon with a hotel environment, but only two of them contained the element of the intelligibility of jargon. The respondents distributed their answers almost equally among all three offered answers. The majority of the respondents nevertheless chose the definition of jargon, which 41
ignores the aspect of the comprehensibility of jargon. This finding may suggest that there are people who use jargon without understanding its meaning (see Fig. 4).
Figure 4: What is hotel jargon?
An overwhelming number of the respondents think that jargon makes our communication faster and more efficient. This result supports the thesis proposed by Hudson that jargon is a language without which its members cannot think or express themselves (1-5). A minority of the respondents consider jargon a coding language for a message, and surprisingly none of the respondents connects jargon with the importance of its user in the hotel hierarchy (see Chart 5, Appendix III). This finding does not support the thesis proposed by Moony that the users employ jargon to express power (6). Chart 6 (see Appendix III) shows that respondents unambiguously confirm that jargon is a part of their profession, and many respondents encounter jargon words often or very often in their workplaces. This finding is fully in line with Finegan, who defines jargon as specialist terms used by a group with shared specialized interest when engaged in activities surrounding those interests (322). Regarding the active use of jargon, only one 42
respondent says, that he never uses jargon. On the other hand, more than a half of the respondents admit to using jargon words often (see Chart 7, Appendix IV). Almost all of the respondents claim that they fully understand all the jargon words they use, which may be the sign of their professionalism and sufficient work experience (see Chart 8, Appendix IV).
Chart 9 illustrates an interesting finding (see for Appendix V). More than 30% of the respondents use jargon words in communication with people outside their work group, that is, with clients, travel agents, suppliers, etc. Unfortunately, there is no data available to estimate, which out-group faces the most frequent usage of hotel jargon. This finding may suggest that people accustomed to using jargon cannot stop doing so and consider it to be a part of their public image and a form of a certain authority. Adorno‘s theory confirms this result, stating that the interested parties who use jargon as a means of power, or depend on their public image for the jargon‘s social-psychological effect, will never wean themselves from it (xix). The tables below (see Tables 2 and 3) contain a collection of jargon words that the respondents entered into their questionnaires. This corpus represents only a small fraction of all hotel jargon words; nevertheless, we can draw some basic conclusions by scrutinizing the individual word-forms of jargon and grouping them according to their common features. Prior to the sorting of data, editing was necessary to exclude all errors (e.g. unfinished words). The first division split the corpus into two main groups, jargon from Czech hotels and jargon from hotels in English speaking countries. The questionnaire circulated in Czech hotels as well as abroad; therefore, some of the responses came back in the Czech language and some in the English language. The group of words from Czech hotels is considerably smaller and treated separately but to draw general conclusions we may consider both groups as a base for the conclusions of the thesis. The next division of words reflects the word-formation principles. The goal of this sorting is to identify the group with the most entries and to establish the most productive word-formation process of 43
hotel jargon. This type of jargon division also enables to observe other distinctive features connected with individual categories of jargon. A more comprehensive corpus of hotel jargon provides Appendix XIII containing over 300 entries without explanatory notes. This set is a compilation of words and acronyms from various hotel manuals, business emails, and hotel guidelines that I encountered during my work at the hotel reception in various hotels. The purpose of this corpus is solely to demonstrate the kind of jargon we may encounter in the hotel environment and to support the findings derived from online questionnaires, which are discussed in the following paragraphs.
44
Table 2: A set of jargon words used in Czech hotel industry Compounds (2) Phrases (1) Abbreviations (14)
Jargon-slang (9)
Borrowings (22)
Jednonočka (a one night stay), samoplátce (a guest pays for his stay directly in a hotel) pokoj v klínu (a room in the corner of a building) shortenings
specka, okružka, indíci, čekačka, dvoják, stěhovačka
acronyms
BARovka, FITýčka, APRko, HBéčko, FOCka, BBéčko, VIPka, GDSko
tágo (a taxi), pingl (a bus boy), policajti (a police report), šikmáči (people of Asian origin), kopec (local slang for an airport), modří (?), batůžkáři (low budget tourists), hankrle (a dish cloth), slevosráči (clients booking discounted packages) English origin
začekinovaný (check in), odčekinovaný (check out), sajtka (a sightseeing tour), fajl (a file), tůrka (a tour), upsel (upsell), tábl (a table), dabl (a double room/bed), travelák (travel), holder (hold), singl (a single room/bed), bukovat (book), walkini (walk in), bagáž (a baggage), nonrefka (a non- refundable rate), dirty pokoj (a status of a room before it can be used again)
German origin
absatz (der Absatz), štafle (die Staffel), forleg (vorlegen), šafina (schaffen), kundík (der Kunde), budlík (die Bude), selbcáler (der Selbstzahler), štamgast (der Stammgast)
A number of words
Figure 5: Jargon words from Czech hotels in numbers 30
22
20 10
14 9 2
1
0 1
Word-forms of jargon Compounds
Abbreviations
Borrowings
45
Jargon/Slang
Phrases
The most entries of jargon originated in Czech hotels fall into the borrowing-group. In our small sample, we can observe that most borrowings originate from the English language. The words in our sample do not follow the orthographic and phonological rules of English (they vary in their written and spoken forms) but follow the Czech phonological and orthographic patterns. The finding supports two theories proposed by Fromkin, firstly that borrowed words adapt the regular phonology, morphology, and syntax of the borrowing language. Secondly, that the borrowing is one of the primary sources of the changes in the lexicon of many languages (461-63). The second strongest group of entries are the abbreviations. In this group, we have two sub-groups, dividing the abbreviations into shortenings and acronyms. Interestingly, all the entries in the sub-group acronyms overlap with the borrowings because they have English acronyms as their base. The English language strongly affects hotel jargon and seems to be the main source of new jargon in the Czech hotel environment. The third strong group, called jargon-slang is the most problematic group of words. They are not pure jargon, and its entries can be classified both jargon and slang. The entries cross the boundaries set for jargon words. Some expressions are a coding language and cannot be understood from their word-forms. Some of them carry even racist and pejorative meanings. Words like policajti, šikmáči, kopec, modří, slevosráči trespass the boundaries of jargon and can be considered argot. Another distinctive feature of local jargon is the use of Czech suffixes with English acronyms. The users instinctively add suffixes to acronyms, to create Czechisized5 nouns. The reason may be of a syntactic origin, that is, the users can apply common Czech conjugational patterns to such neologisms. The next feature of local hotel jargon is its humorous, and expressive nature originated in unusual word combinations and associations.
5
počešt|it, -ím pf-111, počešť|ovat, -uji impf-110 Czechisize, Czechify (Fronek 721)
46
Table 3: A set of hotel jargon words used in English speaking countries
Compounds Phrases
Abbreviations
Jargon-slang
Professionalisms
Borrowings
No-show, walkin, bookout, upselling, overbooking, backpackers, underground, non-refundable, stayover Black out dates, cut-off date, rooms rolled, must stay 2, guest services, a rooming list, rate centre, in the weeds, star report (VIP list), hot lead, wake up call, set the bill, make it sexy (make it as nice as possible), job on the line (when you are preparing for a VIP manager), pig in the pen (a guest stuck in the parking ramp) COMPL, double, fam trip, twin, shortenings FIT, TBA, PAX, GM, BAR, F&B, BB, BAR, acronyms GDS, ADS, ROH, DMC, DDR, RFP, FOC, ADR, SMERF, LOS/MLOS, LEA, OTA, DMO, LRA, CRS, DND, RFP, CTA, MOD, c/i, c/o, ghkv, B&B, NS, CMS, PMS, FOM, PERM, HD, CRA, OTB, RevPAR, RevMAX,VIB, SVP, UG, DG, APT Skipper, lobby lizard (a guest relation personnel), onstage (front office area), weekend warriors (people coming on weekends), living room (lobby), wheels (valet), cosy (the smallest room), munchie box (minibar), 20/10 rule (acknowledgment of a guest 20 steps away with a nod, and eye contact when 10 steps away), peach (a very difficult guest), a classic (a very traditional guest), wolf pack (loyal returning clients), dens (rooms), red card Forecast, leisure, allotment, check in, check out, late arrival, Rack rate, walk in, overbooked, log book, book, room night, half board, mystery guest, free sale, allotment, bucket drop, batch, occupancy, property, full board, half board, queen size, pick up, drop off, log file, back up Porterage French origin
47
Figure 6: Hotel jargon words from English speaking countries in numbers 60 51
A number of words
50 40 27
30 20
14
15
9
10
1 0
Word-forms of jargon Compounds
Abbreviations
Borrowings
Jargon/Slang
Phrases
Professionalisms
The overwhelming majority of words in English speaking countries falls into the abbreviation group. In our set, we have a mix of entries coming from hotels, where English is the main or secondary language of communication among the employees. For this reason, we cannot establish whether the abbreviation may be a borrowing or not. Nevertheless, all the abbreviations are again of English origin and the sub-group of acronyms forms a substantial part of them. Unlike their equivalents adapted to Czech morphology, all entered acronyms lack suffixes and are, most likely, used, as they would be in English speaking countries. We may speculate, but it is very likely that the nonEnglish speakers also reflect the syntactic rules of their languages and the spoken form of acronyms differs from the English standard. The second strongest group of entries are the professionalisms. Surprisingly, nobody from the Czech hotels listed professionalisms in the questionnaire, as if the respondents considered professional terms a kind of language outside jargon. This result may suggest that Czech users define jargon only as an informal version of professional or technical language while the others ignore the technicality of the language. Entries in the group of professionalisms strictly follow grammatical rules of English and carry a high degree of a technicality. 48
In the group jargon-slang, we can find mainly informal expressions with the elements of a figurative language. Figurative language is an expressive use of language when words are used in a non-literal way to suggest illuminating comparison and resemblances (Vogel 27). Some examples are humorous metaphors (a living room for a lobby), synecdoche (wheels for a car) or euphemisms (cosy for something very small). Only one entry in the group French borrowings confirms the huge impact of English on the hotel language. It is obvious that the English language, namely technical language, is the main source of acronyms, which are very popular for their short forms carrying a high degree of a communicative value. In both sets of borrowings, we could find only eight entries from the German and French languages. These entries seem to be very old and are the core of hotel jargon. In terms of legibility, jargon consists of terms used inside social groups with shared specialized interest and, therefore, should be comprehensible to all members of these groups (Finegan 322). In line with this statement, our respondents rated the legibility of hotel jargon for in-groupers as well understandable (see Chart 10, Appendix V). As outgroupers may not understand jargon, one fifth of our respondents use jargon as a coding language to hide a piece of information from the others (see Chart 11, Appendix VI). More than a half of our participants think that jargon belongs rather to informal type of communication (see Chart 12, Appendix VI) and suppose that jargon plays an important role in spoken in-group interaction (see Chart 13, Appendix VII). This finding supports the in-group solidarity function of jargon described by Allan and Burridge (65). According to the survey, jargon plays an important role in written in-group communication (see Chart 14, Appendix VII). In terms of interdepartmental communication, one third of respondents are aware of the fact, that some jargon can be incomprehensible for their colleagues (see Chart 15, Appendix VIII). The hotel staff is not a homogenous group of people but there are several groups, created based on the work duties or place of work (front office, back office, maintenance, etc.), each with its special terms. If this is the case, over forty per cent of our participants are unwilling to stop using jargon. They would rather explain the term in question and continue with its use (see Chart 16, Appendix VIII). 49
The graph in Chart 17 (see Appendix IX) shows that the knowledge of jargon influences communication. Jargon in this instance is perceived positively as a sign of professionalism. The respondents think that communication is faster and more effective solely due of jargon. On the other hand, they realize that jargon can be a barrier between them and their clients. For this reason, over 63% of them avoid using jargon in contact with guests or business partners (see Chart 18, Appendix IX). The reasons are different, but the majority of our participants doubt that guests would be happy to hear jargon, and they might feel embarrassed or angry because they do not understand (for a detailed list of reasons see Chart 19 in Appendix X). The results of our survey show, that the department with the most frequent use of jargon is the reception (see Chart 20, Appendix XI). The second position belongs to the reservation department, and sales and marketing come the third in place. Even if the latter named departments have an enormous number of jargon words (especially acronyms), reception personnel have, additionally, frequent contact with other hotel departments and their jargon. An interesting finding of the survey is illustrated in the graph in Chart 21 (see Appendix XI). According to the respondents, the main reason for using jargon is the absence of an alternative form due to the jargon‘s high degree of technicality. The preference of jargon also explains the motivation of the users for economy in their communication. All the aforementioned is fully in line with Locker‘s theory on the role of jargon. Locker stresses that jargon was invented to make our communication more effective and to give it a specific style that recognizes the field of business to which it is applied (As Per Your).
50
9. Conclusion The language of the hotel profession appears in two major forms. One form is the professional language, that is, a formal jargon embracing a technical language with its special technical vocabulary and terms. All forms in this category strictly follow the grammar rules, and they lack spontaneity and expressiveness (especially irony and pejorative undertones). The other form is the informal language consisting of pure jargon and slang expressions. Informal jargon and slang words seem to be products of personal, spontaneous, and anonymous word-formation processes. Informal jargon is characterised by considerable lexical productivity, grammatical flexibility, figurativeness, playfulness in meanings, and association. We can describe this type of jargon as an informal and often humorous version of the professional language. The terminology of professional jargon differs from the informal jargon, but both are relatively stable and well established among its users. For hotel jargon, an overuse of technical language is typical, namely economic terms in the form of acronyms and abbreviations. Due to the abundance of technical language, we can talk about jargon in its true form. Acronyms are mainly the abbreviations of technical terms, but there is a minor group of acronyms with a humorous meaning belonging to the informal jargon. This minority exploits the inexplicitness of acronyms to cover the message and thrives because of the popularity of acronyms in hotels. The acronyms VIB (a very important baby), VIP (a very important pup) are examples of such jargon. The main source of new jargon in Czech hotels are borrowings from the English language, particularly business English. Other languages contribute considerably less to enrich jargon in modern hotels. Borrowings from the German and French languages seem to become a part of generalized jargon. Such words are no longer considered true jargon, as they are widely understood. A substantial part of back office jargon is a formal language, which reflects upon economic terminology. The examples gathered in the appendix XIII are most often the initialisms of hotel technical language and economic terms. The reasons to create and employ such jargon are the economy and efficiency in communication across 51
hotel departments and among hotels themselves. On the other hand, front office jargon is more informal and inclines rather to slang. Slang words collected in the survey come most likely from the front office because they all bear a few distinctive features. Hotel slang expressions reflect upon different types of hotel guests (šikmáči, travelák, batůžkáři), their behaviour (peach, wolf pack), often refer to clients‘ areas and services in a hotel (dens, munchie box, tágo), or replace formal names of regular activities carried on by receptionists and other employees of a hotel (policajti, jet kopec). Hotel slang is very often based on direct observations and perceptions of the front desk personnel. The functions of such informal jargon and slang are to cover the truth from the out-group members and to support in-group solidarity among its users.
The tourist industry has an international and interdisciplinary character; therefore, hotel jargon is rich in forms and originates from many languages. This fact initiated the publication of several tourist industry dictionaries and encyclopaedias even in the Czech Republic. One example is the dictionary compiled by Zelenka and Pasková, Cestovní ruch / Výkladový slovník (The Tourist Industry / The Explanatory Dictionary). The authors of this book realized the complexity of jargon in the tourist industry and by publishing this book; they provided a useful tool for all people engaged in the travel industry and for students preparing for their careers in hotels or travel agencies. Malá encyklopedie cetovního ruchu (The Small Encyclopaedia of the Tourist Industry) by Jiří Čech or English-Czech/CzechEnglish Dictionary of the Travel Industry by Zuzana Míšková are other examples of such initiatives in the Czech Republic.
52
Works cited Adams, Michael. Slang: The People's Poetry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Adorno, Theodor. The Jargon of Authenticity. London: Routledge, 2009. Print. Allan, Keith and Kate Burridge. Forbidden Words: Taboo and Censoring of Language. Cambridge: Cmabridge University Press, 2006. Print. Brotherton, Bob. The International Hospitality Industry: Structure, Characteristics and Issues. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003. Print. Caudle, Paula et al. "Jargon" Modern America, 1914-Present. 27 June 1999. The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Web. 10 May 2015. Cohen , Louis, Manion Lawrence and Keith Morrison . Research Methods in Education. 5th Edition. London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2005. Print. Čech, Jiří. Malá encyklopedie cestovního ruchu: vybrané pojmy v češtině a angličtině, definice, zkratky. 1st. Prague: Idea Servis, 1998. Print. Černý, Jiří. Úvod do studia jazyka. Olomouc: Rubico, 2008. Print. Eckert, Penelope and John R. Rickford. Style and Sociolinguistic Variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Print. Finegan, Edward. Language: Its Structure and Use. Boston, MA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Print. Finch, Geoffrey. How to Study Linguistics: A Guide to Understanding Language. Second Edition. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Print. Friedman, Karen. Shut Up and Say Something: Business Communication Strategies to Overcome Challenges and Influence Listeners. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010. Print. Fromkin , Victoria, Robert Rodman and Nina M. Hyams. An Introduction to Language. Australia: Wadsworth, Centage Learning, 2011. Print.
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Fronek, Josef. Velký česko-anglický slovník. Prague: LEDA, s.r.o., 2000. Print. Goeldner, Charles R. and Ritchie J.R. Brent. Cestovní ruch: principy, příklady, trendy. 1st. Brno: BizBooks, 2014. Print. Hesková, Marie et al. Cestovní ruch: pro vyšší odborné školy a vysoké školy. 1st. Prague: Fortuna, 2006. Print. Horner, Susan and John Swaarbroke. Cestovní ruch, ubytování a stravování, využití volného času. Prague: Grada, 2003. Print. Hudson, Kenneth. The Jargon of the Professions. London: Macmillan, 1979. Print. Llamas, Carmen, Louise Mullany and Peter Stockwell. The Routledge Companion to Sociolinguistics. London: Routledge, 2007. Print. Locker, K. O. ―'As Per Your Request': A History of Business Jargon.‖ Journal of Business and Technical Communication 1.1 (1987): 27-47. Web. Malmkjær, Kirsten and James, M. A. (Ed.). The Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia. 3rd. London: Routledge, 2010. Print. Meyerhoff, Miriam. Introducing Sociolinguistics. Oxon: Routledge, 2006. Print. Míšková, Zuzana. Anglicko-český, česko-anglický slovník cestovního ruchu. 1st. Prague: Ekopress, 2007. Print. —. Angličina v cestovním ruchu/ English in the Tourism Industry. 2nd. Prague: Ekopres, s.r.o., 2010. Print. Mooney, Annabelle et al. Language, Society and Power: An Introduction. 3rd. Oxon: Routledge, 2011. Print. Pásková, Martina and Josef Zelenka. Výkladový slovník cestovního ruchu. Prague: Ministerstvo pro místní rozvoj, 2002. Print. Pechter, Edward. ―In Defence of Jargon: Criticism as a Social Practice.‖ Textual Practice 5.2 (2008): 171-182. Web. 16 Aug. 2015. Robinson, Peter. Tourism: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge, 2012. Print.
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Rutherford, Denney G. and Michael J. O'Fallon. Hotel Management and Operations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007. Print. Summers, Della, Adam Gadsby and Emma Campbell. Longman Active Study Dictionary. Harlow: Longman, 2000. Print. Theobald, William F. Global Tourism. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1998. Print. Trask, R.L. Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. London: Routledge, 1999. Print. Vallen, Jerome J. and Gary K. Vallen. Check-In-Check-Out. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown, 1991. Print. Vogel, Radek. Basics of Lexicology. Brno: Masarykova Univerzita, 2012. Print. Wardhaugh, Ronald. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006. Print. Wikimedia. Wiktionary: Sociolinguistic. 15 September 2015. Web. 29 October 2015. . Wikipedia.
Graffiti.
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Appendices Appendix I Chart 1: Gender
Chart 2: Work experience in a hotel of the respondents
56
Appendix II Chart 3: Work position in a hotel of the respondents
Chart 4: Are you in a managerial position?
57
Appendix III Chart 5: Reasons for the usage of jargon in a hotel
Chart 6: How often do you encounter jargon in a hotel?
58
Appendix IV Chart 7: Do you personally use jargon?
Chart 8: Do you fully understand all the jargon words you use?
59
Appendix V Chart 9: Do you use any jargon words in a communication, which is not addressed to hotel workers (e.g. clients, travel agents, suppliers etc.)?
Chart 10: Legibility of hotel jargon for in-groupers
60
Appendix VI Chart 11: Do you intentionally use jargon to hide information from the others?
Chart 12: Do you use jargon rather in formal or informal communication?
61
Appendix VII Chart 13: What role does jargon play in a spoken interaction among the staff of your hotel?
Chart 14: What role does jargon play in a written communication among the staff of your hotel?
62
Appendix VIII Chart 15: Do you think that some jargon can be incomprehensible for your colleagues?
Chart 16: If your partner does not understand some jargon, do you start to avoid using it?
63
Appendix IX Chart 17: Does the fact, that your partner knows jargon, play a role in a communication?
Chart 18: Do you think that jargon is appropriate in a contact with a hotel guest?
64
Appendix X Chart 19: Reasons why jargon does not belong to a contact with a guest
65
Appendix XI Chart 20: Ranking of departments according the most frequent use of jargon
Chart 21: Reasons for the use of jargon (a top position belongs to the most important reason)
66
Appendix XII An on-line questionnaire form distributed to various hotels via email
67
68
69
70
71
Appendix XIII A corpus of words and acronyms from various hotel manuals, business emails, and hotel guidelines A&G
AHMA
Average
A la carte menu
AHR
Check
A.m. room status
Airport hotel
Average
report
All-inclusive
Above the line
resort
promotion
All-suite hotel
Back
AC
ACE
American plan
Activity
American
Holidays
(AP)
ADA Room
Adjusted
Gross
Operating Profit Adjusted
Net
Operating Profit ADR AGOP AH&LA AHIC
plan
AP
Adjoining rooms
the
C&B C&I
BAR Base
Fee
or
ATM
CBRE
Bays
CDP and
Bellhop Below the line
Available Rooms Daily
Cashier
Basic Fee
Bell service
Arrival time
BSC BTA
breakfast
ARR
Rate
of
Bed
Apollo
Average
Brigade
BAHA
Amenities
Boutique Hotel BRA
Back office
Amadeus
Accessibility
Room
house
Allocation
Blocked Space BMF
Rate B&B
ABTA
Food
Central reservation system CIBC Cleaning caddy
promotion
Club
Benchmarking
Clustering
BHA
CMI
BISL
Commercial hotel
72
Comp
Baby cot
Dishonoured
EP
Complexing
Cover
Reservation
Equity
Complimentary
CP
DMC
Destination Club
room
CQI
DMO
ERA
Concierge
CRM
DND
ETA
Condo/Condomi
CRO
Domestic
ETC
Tourism
European plan
DOS
European
Double Bed
(EP)
attraction
Downgrade
EVP
CVB
Drive-up
Executive chef
breakfast
Day visitors
Dry storage
Expenses
Continental Plan
DBB
DSCR
F&B
(CP)
DCMS
DSRA
FAM tour
Controller
Demi CDP
Du jour menu
Familiarisation
Convention
Demi pension
E-Key
tour
Departmental
EAME
Family plan
Expenses
Early Arrival
FF&E Reserve
Destination Club
Early-Out
FIFO
Destination
EBITDAR
FIT
Management
Economy
Fixed Charges
Destination
operation
FOH
Marketing
Ecotourism
Folio
Direct Billing
EMEA
Food
nium Confidential Tariff Connecting rooms Continental
Bureau Cooperative Advertising Cooperative Marketing Cooperative Partner Corporate Rate COS
CRS CTA Cumulative
Entree 73
Percentage
plan
Cost
Fractional
GRR
Hotelier
Incentive trip
Frequency
GS&B
House account
Inclusive resort
programme
GSA
House Count
Incoming
Frequent Lodger
GSTS
House Limit
operator
FRI lease
Guaranteed Late
House Manager
Incoming
Front of House
Arrival
HR
Front Office
Guaranteed
HRN
Full board
reservation
Full House
Guarantees
HVAC
tour
Tourism Independent hotel Independent
HVS
reservation
Chamber maid
system
CHE
Inventory
(Half Board)
Check-In
Inventory log
HCIMA
Check-Out
IRE
Heads in Beds
Chef de rang
IRHA
HFTP
IAC
IRR
GOPAR
HHC
IACVB
ITB
Gross Operating
HITEC
IBFC
ITT
Profit
HOFTEL
IHG
JLL or JLLS
Hold Time
IHIF
JLLH
Revenue
Homestay
IMF
Key rack
Ground operator
Hostel
In-Out Dates
Key Card
Group Arrivals
HOT
Inbound
King Bed
Group Departure
Hotel Register
Tourism
KPI
Group rate
Hotel voucher
Incentive Fee
L4L
Payment
Full pension
Half Board
Full service
Half
Galileo International GDS GM GOPPAR
Gross
or
Rooms
Pension
74
Late
arrival
Maintenance log
NOI
Option Date
(Late show)
Maintenance
Non-guaranteed
Out of order
Late charge
work orders
reservation
Overbooking
Leisure travel
MAP
NOP
Over sale
Leisure visitor
Master Bill
NPV
Overstay/Stay
Length of stay
RTI
NTA
Over
LFL
Master Key
NTB
Package Tour
License Fee
MCI
Occupancy
Paid out
Limited service
MIA
Occupancy Rate
Parador
Limited service
MICE
OE
Pax
operation
MICROS
OES
PBIT
Line chef
Mid-tier
OFFMKT
PCMA
Lockout
MLA
OOO
PDQ
MLOS
Open house
Peak Night
Loyalty
Modified
OPERA
Peak season
programme
American Plan
Enterprise
Pick-Up
LRA
MPI
Solution
MWB
Operated
Lower tier
LTC LTV M.O.D. M&C
Mystery guest
Departments Operating
N/S NDA
M&IT
Net
MA
Income
MAC
Net Rate
Magnetic Key
No show
Operating
PIP PKF PMS
Equipment
POM
Operating
Porter
Expenses
POS
Operating Plan
Positive space
Operator
PRC
75
Pre-Block
Request
Pre-Registration
Proposal
List
Reserve
Rotary
Split Folio
information rack
Spotter
Royalty Fee
SPV
Priority Club
drawer
RPTI
SRP
Private
Residence Club
RSO
Star Link
Residence Club
Restricted Area
S&M
Station chef
Production chef
RevPAR
Sabre
Stayover
Property
RFP
Section
Improvement
ROCE
key
ROH
Short-order cook
Rollaway
Shoulder season
tourism
System
Room Block
Shuttle service
SVP
PTEB
Room
SI
TA
Commitment
Single Bed
Room Deposit
SITE
Menu
Room Night
Slippage
TAC
Room
SMERF
TBA
Snagging List
Technical
Sofa bed
Assistance
Soft Opening
Technical
Sous chef
Services
Plan Property Management
QA QMH Queen-Size Bed R&M
for
key
Occupancy
Rack Rate
Pattern
RCI
Room Only
Registration
Room rack
Card REIT
Room
status
report
Remind-o-timer
Rooming list
Rental and Other
Rooms Revenue
Income
Special
master
Suite Supplement Sustainable
Table-d‘hôtel
Needs
Technology
Accommodation
butler
Specialty rate
TIC
SPG 76
Timeshare
Total Revenue
Understay
Vacation
Walk-in rate
Total RevPAR
Undistributed
Ownership
Wholesaler
Tour Operator
Operating
Valet service
WTM
Transient
Uniform System
VCB
WTO
consumer market
Upgrade
VFR
WTTC
TRI
Upper tier
Voice
Yield
Trundle bed
Upsell
VP
management
TSA
USP
VR
YOY
UFOC
Vacancy
Walk In
77
