net-net

[Dan Goncharoff]

Sorry, I don't really understand the judgmental tone. The language of
business is part of the business of life, and has its own shorthand.

"Net-net" is a shorthand promise by the speaker that nothing has been done
to fiddle with the definition of the number in question in order to produce
a favorable change

Look again at the transcript. Fiorina says, "net-net, we created jobs".
Business people know what she means by her four-word sentence. But she has
to translate it for Blitzer: "it means there were more employees working
for Hewlett-Packard the day I left than the day I arrived." That, BTW, is
not a good translation -- it doesn't deal with employees added through the
acquisition of companies, and I would expect them to be left out of the
"net-net" number. "Net-net" is a way of saying, "I am not fooling around
with these numbers". What is the context? "Lies, damn lies and statistics"
comes to mind.

I am not trying to defend her choice to use business shorthand during a
campaign interview. It might not help her get elected. But she used business
shorthand correctly.

DanG

On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 12:39 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Re: net-net
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>         It sounds more like a $1.98 vocabulary to me.  From this
> example, "Word smart for business" apparently endorses the practice of
> using high-falutin terms that the speaker doesn't understand and that
> have no concrete meaning in context.
>
>        Kudos to Dan for finding this.  I bet the book has a lot more
> examples of the worst kind of business-speak.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Dan Goncharoff
> Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 12:13 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: net-net
>
> A simpler theory is that Fiorina uses "net-net" as an alternative to
> "bottom
> line" as an intensifier when describing the 'purity' of a number.
>
> Here is a definition from a 1997 book, "Word smart for business:
> cultivating
> a six-figure vocabulary":
>
> The absolute bottom line, or end result. It's even more bottom line than
> just net.
>
> DanG
>
> On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 11:47 AM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: net-net
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
> >
> >        "Net net" actually does have a meaning.  It is a valuation
> > technique in which current assets are netted to reflect uncertainties
> in
> > collection (e.g., inventories are valued at liquidation values), and
> > then liabilities are netted against assets.
> >
> >        As described, however, HP's job creation number was merely a
> > "net" number, because there was only one netting process.  There are
> at
> > least two possible explanations for Fiorina's use:
> >
> >                1.      She is using a phrase that sounds impressive
> but
> > is meaningless in context (or, perhaps, sounds more impressive than is
> > really the case), for obfuscatory purposes.  This, I take it, is Jon's
> > theory.
> >
> >                2.      There actually was a calculation that reflected
> > two netting processes, but she does not remember what the other
> netting
> > process was or feels that she would be unable to describe it
> concisely.
> > Based on my experience with CEO spokespersons, this would be my guess.
> >
> >        There is also something called a "net net net" (or "triple
> net")
> > lease, in which the lessee has to pay the net amounts of three types
> of
> > costs.  I'm not aware of any quadruple nets, however.
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf
> > Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 9:42 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: net-net
> >
> > CNN yesterday:
> > http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1010/11/sitroom.02.html
> >
> > "FIORINA: I managed Hewlett-Packard through the technology recession,
> > the
> > worst in 25 years, the dot-com bust. But, net-net, we created jobs.
> >
> > . . .
> >
> > "BLITZER: So, the 30,000 figures who were laid off during -- I guess
> the
> > dot-com bust, if you will, I guess that's true, even though you say
> you
> > created more jobs than you than you had -- were forced to lay off? Is
> > that
> > what you're saying?
> >
> > "FIORINA: Yes. Net-net, we created jobs.
> >
> > "BLITZER: What does that mean, net-net?
> >
> > "FIORINA: Well, it means there were more employees working for
> > Hewlett-Packard the day I left than the day I arrived."
> >
> > So it means "comparing the later net figure to the earlier."  In other
> > words, "overall."
> >
> > A vital element overlooked in the transcript is the impatience in
> > Carly's
> > voice when she had to explain the meaning of "net-net" to a veteran
> > journalist.  You mean it isn't obvious??
> >
> > Anyway, if you say "net-net," other *supposedly* intelligent people
> will
> > have to ask you what it means, and that puts you in the vital
> ascendant.
> > Gooooaaaaal!!!
> >
> > JL
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org