Rhymes With Ditch
I’m as guilty as the next guy of dropping the occasional corporate buzzword du jour, but there are a few words that I just won’t use in a business setting without apologizing first.
Robust, paradigm, synergy, etc. - you know the usual suspects.
I’m happy to report that the number one offender in my book, pronouncing the word “niche” as “neesh” with the long “e” sound, is an affectation on the wane.
Now, I know that Webster’s concedes that it’s acceptable to say it this way, but c’mon, no-one ever said “neesh” before the skinny guys in the black shirts and the hipster dot-com glasses started to really run with it in the late 90’s.
Well, ten years later it seems that people are finally coming to their senses. The last 3 mentions of “niche” that I have heard have all been delivered with the more pedestrian, but so much better, pronunciation that had fallen out of favor for so long.
Welcome back, I say.
Now, if the people who spent a semester abroad in London during college would just stop closing their emails with “cheers” we’d have the battle won…
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:37 pm #Casey Hibbard
Hey Adam,
It was nice meeting you at the MCG last week as well!
As a person in a “niche” marketing field, I use the word a fair amount. But I started getting self conscious when I was the only one pronouncing it the old-fashioned way. I’m glad to hear that the old way is back.
Casey