Buzzphrase Generator

[quantum]

Thinking about the usage of English discussed in another thread, I wonder if anyone remembers the Honeywell Buzzphrase Generator from the 1970s? It contained tables of grammatically correct but meaningless phrases, which were randomly put together by a BASIC program to make up to 40,000 different sentences which sounded good but meant absolutely nothing. If I recall correctly, the phrases contained all the latest jargon of the time.

I wonder whether anybody actually used it - perhaps putting together a technical report for a manager who didn't understand technology (like Dilbert's boss in the Scott Adams cartoon) it might have been tempting to pad out the report with a few well chosen Buzzphrase sentences...

[AC/HL]

I am convinced that that program is required reading for the modern management gurus. I was once given a copy of a Dilbert book, and the resemblance to my former employer's philosophy was uncanny, even down to the language!

[Mike Phelan]

Somewhere, I have a copy of a Snobol program that does the same
And does anyone remember 'Insults' thet gave a dummy C:\> prompt, and displayed pages of insults when some poor wight pressed a key?
It, too, was based on tables, and constructed sentences of the form:
You <adj><noun> of <participle> <animal><noun>

Mike

[Steve_Johnson]

See the Dilbert " Mission Statement Generator " here

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/games/index.html

I like Dilbert...it's just uncannily close to the truth !!

Steve J

[petergeorge]

Dear Quantum,

I remember, with a grin of a cheshire cat, the Honeywell Buzzword Generator. It was a folded card and you picked one word from each of the columns and put in any order you wanted. I used it a few times in reports to senior management and board members just to see the look on their faces when they read/listened to those wonderful nonsense phrases.

[wireful3]

An interesting variation.
I attended a meeting once when a junior whizz-kid manager used these sort of phrases without understanding. He was then asked by the Chief Engineer " Fine, but what does it mean?"

[Station X]

I used to be called in to talk to my manager and he'd be continually using phrases like "Environmental Turbulence Matrix" and "Corporate Chimney". If I came out with a technical term he'd accuse me of trying to blind him with science.

He also liked using long words, so I'd go into his office clutching a large dictionary so I could look up any words I didn't understand. One day he talked of a "Grandoise Scheme" pronouncing it as if it were a French term. I pointed out to him that he meant "grandiose".

It didn't do my promotion prospects any good at all.

[Ian - G4JQT]

Or this one...

http://locofonic.alphalink.com.au/buzz.htm

Ian

[quantum]

That is indeed very similar to the old Honeywell Buzzphrase Generator I remember. We used to play a variation of it on unsuspecting managers at work over twenty years ago called Bullsh*t Bingo. There was always one manager who had to be 'in the know' and use the latest language, so myself and colleagues would invent words or phrases and introduce them in team meetings, and then take bets on how soon he would use these terms in meetings or reports himself.

Another variation I know colleagues played involved keeping a list of the 'in' words of phrases and then in meetings or briefings tick off each phrase as it was used, and the one who got all the phrases would shout (or more likely whisper) Bingo!