FADE IN:
EXT CENTRAL IOWA.
A CURVING COUNTRY ROAD. AT FIRST GLANCE
A TYPICAL RURAL SCENE, KNEE-HIGH CORN
RUSTLES IN ROLLING FIELDS. IN THE DISTANCE,
WE SEE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT, WE NOW
SEE WE’RE AT THE JUNCTION BETWEEN RURAL
AND SUBURBAN, THE BEGINNINGS OF DEVELOPMENT.
A MINIVAN SWEEPS BY.
INT MINIVAN
CHRIS:
(lazily looking out window, spots a hay bale
in a trashcan, starts with surprise)
Hale of bay? Why are they throwing
out that hale of bay?
JENNIE
(puzzled)
Why’s the "of" in it?
CHRIS
What are you talking about, "of in"?
JENNIE
Why are you calling me "oven"?
FADE OUT
That’s a real conversation. Thankfully, my wife and I aren’t verbally dysfunctional all the time. My personal pet peeve are meetings that exhibit a similar sort of verbal confusion. Does this sound familiar?
JIM
We need X.
AMY
You can’t have Y.
JIM
X is really important.
AMY
We’ll never be able to get Y done in time.
This is a great way to blow half an hour before Jim and Amy discover that they aren’t even talking about the same thing.
This language barrier is particularly acute when business folks try to talk to IT folks. We’ve run into this problem a number of times. Here’s a good conversation on the topic. No solutions today, just venting... and laughing.