Understanding American Business Jargon: A Dictionary

Business and culture are inextricably linked, each reflecting and reinforcing trends in the other. In Understanding American Business Jargon, W. Davis Folsom captures the essence of both by focusing on the terms and phrases that make up our business vocabulary. From AAA to Zombie Bonds, Folsom takes us on a tour of over 2500 concepts that cover the spectrum of business-speak. In this fully revised, updated, and expanded edition, Folsom captures the spirit of business in the new millennium, with such colorful terms as adhocracy, Dilbert principle, hyperlink, traction, and viral marketing. Each term is succinctly defined and described in context, and many are illustrated with quotations from the popular press. Including slang, acronyms, a bibliography, an introduction that discusses recent trends in business language, and cross-referenced throughout, Understanding American Business Jargon is not only a handy reference for any businessperson, student, or researcher, but an entertaining glimpse into our constantly evolving business culture.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Stylistic Guide The Dictionary Acronyms Bibliography

About the Author :
W. Davis Folsom is Professor of Economics and Marketing, University of South Carolina Beaufort. He is the author of several books, including American Business Language and NAFTA Law and Business, and editor of The Encyclopedia of American Business.

Review :
Like communication in most fields of study, business communication contains terms and expressions that may not have obvious meanings to the uninitiated. If one does not know the jargon, one misses the meaning of what is said. In this second edition, Folsom continues his endeavor to assist business people and students with the confusing and continually changing realm of American Business English….The entries are generally clear and concise. Instead of just using the term in a sentence, many entries include an example of how the term or phrase was used in a journal or newspaper article. This gives a real world flavor to the dictionary. The book includes a list of the acronyms that the reader encounters in the dictionary. The bibliography lists several business jargon dictionaries and Web sites. There is even a Web page (http://www.islc.net/~folsom/language) with sample material from the book. Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers. This dictionary is a useful tool to help here and assist with the task of keeping on top of rapidly changing jargon. Business people and students will find it a useful reference source. This book is written for the businessperson, the student and anyone who uses a language other than English as their first language. This is a book that will make understanding communications you receive from others easier and keep yo from making faux pas in your interactions with others. I would not replace the first edition, but rather add the second edition to my desk reference collection, as this edition adds much more to the knowledge available. The second edition of Understanding American Business Jargon: A Dictionary is the perfect reference for a college-level business school: it surveys the link between business and culture which spills over into business terms and language, it provides an A-Z dictionary of terms and phrases which covers not only definitions but basic concepts, and it uses the terms in context, many with quotes from popular press. An excellent library reference. [F]olsom's experience as a business professor lends credence to this informal and entertaining dictionary, which aims to help both American-born English speakers and English-speaking foreigners reduce communication problems….[c]ollections serving American speakers who do not live and work in a business environment, as well as nonnative speakers, will benefit from this source.