Expressions in engineering workplace
Expressions in engineering workplace
(OP)
Hi,
As an engineer with a mother tongue other than English(newcomer in English community),everyday I faced with some slangs, idioms, or phrasal verbs that they are new to me. Can you guys mention some popular ones of those in engineering workplace(ofcourse with brief meaning)?
For example today I heard these:
"chip away" :To divide a problem to solve it.
"...hammering ": working more on something.
Thanks in advance
As an engineer with a mother tongue other than English(newcomer in English community),everyday I faced with some slangs, idioms, or phrasal verbs that they are new to me. Can you guys mention some popular ones of those in engineering workplace(ofcourse with brief meaning)?
For example today I heard these:
"chip away" :To divide a problem to solve it.
"...hammering ": working more on something.
Thanks in advance





RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
This is a tough one for me, as slang is a normal part of the daily vocabulary used at work, and I'm not sure what is slang anymore.
However,
"chip away": to attack a problem little bits at a time until you get you final results...as in creating a marble statue. Not actually dividing a problem.
"hammering": working "very hard" on a specific problem. As in, "I was hammering away at the problem until it was solved". Not just working more on it, but really putting an effort into the problem.
I can't think of anything right now, but will write them down as they are used and post again. I'm sure this group will give you more than you can remember!
Having failed at my attempts to learn a foreign language, I commend you on your English. It took me a while to learn Texan! I'm working on my Spanish.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Hmm, can't think right now myself. Perhaps if you posted the slang you hear during teh day, we can translate for you?
"But what... is it good for?"
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
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RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
corus
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Thanks for this test report, I'll just put in the round file."
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
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RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
rerig:I know that is tough for people with English as a mother tongue.
I learned a lot, and hope other members add something.
Thank you again.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Anyway, the job was meticulously planned, enthusiastically and carefully executed and when all was complete I was asked by one of the ES guys what I thought about their efforts. Well,it turned out a good job, so naturally I said "Not bad". Wow, the disappointment on the faces of these guys initially, until it was carefully explained that "not bad" really meant "bloody good job"!
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Good Luck
johnwm
________________________________________________________
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RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
And, yes: Using the fingers to count is using the "Norwegian Calculator".
My own addition to immortal sayings is this: "Red is black and plus is minus". Try saying it to someone! He/she will probably nod knowingly and in an affirmative way. People seldom really hear what you say...
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
For those of you unfamiliar with the stance, this is a reference to the posture of someone standing at a drafting table. And it means ' GET TO WORK!'
He also used to call emergency staff meetings by commanding the drafters to file into the conference room "nuts to butts". Self explanitory.
I was the only junior engineer that lacked the specific equipment to which he referred so one day I asked if that meant I had time to get a coffee refill. He laughed. He was a great boss!
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
It sounds like your boss had military experience or was influenced by someone who had military experience. Both of those expressions are used widely in the military, and may have originated there. For example, asses and elbows can refer to running or push-ups, both of which are common in basic training, and nuts-to-butts is a common arrangement for male recruits. Ahhh, how I prefer the cerebral world of engineering...
Regards,
Cory
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RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
My boss used to say this phrase before he dropped an exceedingly hard task on us. Something along the lines of, "Design a new fork lift that's 20% cheaper than our current one, and reduce the part count by 25%. While you're at it, try to have a production prototype ready in 6 weeks. Thanks"
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
The saying "a**holes elbows" may be very old. I have read that it may have originated in the era of slavery. When a overseer looked out in a cotton field that's what he wanted to see. He wanted to see people bent over and their arms moving.
I first heard the expression in California while thinning sugar beets. The engineers who invented cotton pickers and other equipment that do away with stoop labor are canidates for nomination as some of the great scientistengineers of all time. ( reference thread 769-110100.)
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Let's kick that around"---Let's talk about it.
"Let me throw it against the wall to see what sticks"---Let me take this to management and get their input.
Rod
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
I hear this all the time when people are proposing new (and usually unorthodox) methods or ideas. I don't know where this phrase came from (I'm not sure if I want to either)...
-Mark
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Hg
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Your fired"! Just an expression?
A long, long time ago in a land far, far away---the clans used to set fire to the houses of people that they considered undesirable and that they wanted to be rid of. Thus the term---"getting fired" and now, "your fired".
Rod
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"sharpen the pencil" - to take a closer look and use more precise numbers in an attempt at solving a problem; this phrase is usually used after one takes a first attempt at solving the problem using approximate numbers.
"In the ballpark" or "ballpark figures" - both of these expressions are used when one is using approximate numbers, as opposed to precise numbers
"number cruncher" - someone who works with numbers
"back to square one" - back to where we started
"Banker's hours" - short work hours (someone comes in late and leaves early)
"short-timer" - someone who will be leaving the company soon
"cut corners" - be more efficient or economical
"in black and white" - in writing
"six of one, half dozen of the other" - expression used when two similar items are being compared
Plus some abberviations that may serve as idioms:
"COB" - "close of business" (the end of the work day)
"SOS" - "same old S---"
"SSDD" - "Same S---, Different Day"
Tony
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Tweak it a bit" adjust some numbers or details in some small manner.
"Prairie Dog event" When something loud or unique happens in an office with cubicles, and everyone's head pops up to see what has happened.
"Gray hairs" reference to individuals with lots of experience...as in "let's get some gray hairs on this problem"
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
eighty-six: discard. We finally eighty-sixed that piece of scrap, and of course the next day we needed it. Supposedly comes from diner (cheap restaurant) slang and there are many theories about its exact origins.
Hg
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Excuse me for getting off track here but skogs reminded me of when my Dad worked on a Swedish construction crew and the boss -- macho guy that he was -- asked for a screwdriver. One helper attempted to pass one to him. He said, "NO,give me a screwDRIVER" and pointed to a claw hammer.
And MadMango reminded me of Another time when dear old Dad worked for a chief engineer that said, "these things you are designing should never break but if they do, they should be able to be fixed in 5 minutes with a screwdriver and pair of pliers." Of course good old Oliver Johnson would probably just use a hammer.
When the engineer says the project is 90% complete, you know what happens next!
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Maybe this is just local to our company, "What would Henry Ford do?"
I get this response from people when I suggest product enhancements. Herny Ford offered his cars in any color you wanted, as long as it was black.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
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RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Napkin Sketches" refers to the sprawled sketches that often result from a trip to the bar with fellow engineers. Sometime's it's hard to distinguish between the design and the bar's logo on the napkin. I wonder if there is some machinery somewhere that has the Hooters owl unconsciously designed into it...
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
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Keep the wheels on the ground
Bob
showshine@aol.com
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Randall Shelaga AScT
Manager, Technical Operations
DIRAND Aerotech Inc.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
corus
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
She was digging into online dictionary, her english class notes, etc for an hour before I asked whats wrong?
She was trying to figure out how the task we were doing involved food.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
A while back I was speaking with Yuri, an engineer from Kiev whose English was a bit fragmented, but he's working on it. We were discussing someone who could manufacture what amounted to custom artwork. He mentioned that he knew a woman whose was very good at what we were looking for. Yuri's exact quote was "she does very good hand job."
I explained to him, after pausing for a second, that what he should say in the future that his aquaintance did 'good hand work.'
Yuri was confused. He asked if 'work' and 'job' weren't about the same in meaning. I said not when you put the work 'hand' in front of it.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
When I am working at something that takes up time and won't really get me anywhere I am "just spinning my wheels"
I had an old professor that used to say of someone who was either worthless or full of it: (so-and-so) is cuttin' a ten inch bearin' on a six- inch lathe!"
Chaz
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
another favorite:
The tail is wagging the dog - meaning that upper management lost control of the situation and stupid decisions are being made by non-engineers....
BobPE
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
my engineering travels...
Red Wrench = Acetylene torch used to loosen rusted/seized fasteners (Also Hot Wrench)
Shiner = Nail that missed the stud as seen from the back side of sheathing
Peach Pits = Refers to a piece of machinery vibrating so much it resembles a dog passing peach pits
Hatchet Knot = A knot with so many ties and cross threads it requires a hatchet to open it
Unobtainium = Any mat'l that is impossible to find
Smoke Test = First application of working voltage to an electrical circuit or device
MT = Written on empty gas cylinders, or???
The more you know, the more you
know you don't know....
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
I think I might just use that WAG unit in a business case I'm busy with at the moment - it is full of them!
Bung
Life is non-linear...
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Used in the heavy transport industry in Australia to alert drivers of a police weights and measures trap further down the road.
Mermaids translates as C**** with scales.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Essentially the same as "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"
"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go past." Douglas Adams
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Done on the job site with a wave of the hand, saves all that change order paperwork sometimes....
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
The engineering group I worked for figured out how to get better computers and better software all rather quickly, and to our liking. Since we dealt with a control systems consultant for most of our work, we would tell them what we wanted, they would get it and deliver it. It would be billed as an "Engineering Configuration Terminal and Components" on the bill. <grin!>
~NiM
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
rad
~~~~~
just remember: if you leave it to the last minute, it'll only take a minute...
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
One miner was alerting the others, "look out, here come the engineers!"
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IF YOU WANT IT BAD, YOU'LL GET IT BAD!
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RobWard reminded me of another we used to say when evaluating recruits. If we didn't think much of an individual we'd say "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken $#!~"
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
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RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Just wondering.
Hg
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"It's like teaching a pig to sing. You waste all day getting tired and frustrated, get the pig all pissed off, and never hear a note"
sounds like most management meetings, doesn't it?
Keep the wheels on the ground
Bob
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Something in our office that goes around is using "Hand2000", like SAP2000. Since our boss is too cheap to buy software we get to do most things by hand or with our own spreadsheets, hence Hand2000 is the "software" we use.
I agree with ivymike about the comments. It isn't that it isn't ok to say certain things in front of humans with boobies but rather that those humans with boobies take offense much more easily and are more likely to think sexual harassment than "gee that was just a joke."
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
We've had something similar in past offices. When someone couldn't/wouldn't/didn't use a CAD program to make a sketch, particularly one that took longer to do by hand, it was called an "AutoBill" or "AutoDave" or whatever the person's name was, sketch. "Did you see my sketch? I used AutoBill."
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
And I think it has to do with social norms as well on the PC front. Men are looked at with disdain when they aren't "One of the guys you can BS with" while women are always told to be "Ladylike" by society. How many of you can imagine working with someone you can't use slightly racy colloquialisms with. You'd probably much rather work with someone else, given the choice. This is part of the "fitting in" that is so important within the male dynamic.
Or that's my opinion anyway, take it for what it's worth.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Meaning to "overengineer" or to apply more than one solution to a problem thereby making it cumbersome or excessive.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
(Think about it)
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Means you have achieved something but not very much.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Along the lines of FUBAR, but stands for Re 'Engineered' Beyond All Recognition, with emphasis on 'Engineered' taken very loosely.
Like when you spend months on a management-supported project defining specifications, cost and time estimates, equipment selection, pre-design, software outines, etc.
Then out of the blue management decides they no longer want the project as specified, cut costs here, substitute this for that, need it 3 months sooner, etc.
You sorta get the feeling you have just been impaled on a piece of rebar. Ouch... Time to start over....
Wheels within wheels / In a spiral array
A pattern so grand / And complex
Time after time / We lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see / Their effects.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Hand2000" and "pushing rope" - LOL
I had a boss with from Southern Louisiana..."The reason circular tube sections are so good torsionally is, they can't make up their minds what their weak axis is".
Re-doing a calculation to get the beam, etc. down to a size that fits (or other)- "Let's pencil-whip it"
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
english is also a second language for me... but picked up some lingo along the way...
sh*t-canit = send to circular file
use the DUA standards = (specially for americans) they all ask: what are the DUA standards? - DUA = Don't Use Acronyms
relevant as a f*rt of a fly in tasmania
useless as an ashtray on a motorbike
this nut seized... use the "persuader" = a 20lb sledge hammer
brain-f*rt = trivial mistake
architect = a guy that is not man enough to be an engineer and not effeminate enough to be an interior decorator - i know, i know this is very biased... but it cracked me anyway...
consensual solution = idiotic, but politically correct
the straw that broke the camel's back = one little thing too many...
splitting hairs = going into too much detail
in a pissing contest, everybody gets wet... = there are no winners.
let's bag ass and go home : after a very long session
busier than a one armed coat hanger
cocky young engineer = this ain't my first rodeo, boss...
boss = good, stay on the horse.
let's rock&roll = let's start this engine (usually applied to rotating equipment)
you are preaching to the choir = when they explain to us something that they know we already know.
cheers.
saludos.
a.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Hg
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
thanks. second language hits again.
saludos.
a.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Hg
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
HHmmmm... I think I sort of resemble that rodeo comment, in fact I think I just had that conversation with my boss!
~NiM
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
BobPE's post above "make wire from stretching pennies" reminds me of a similar phrase I've heard:
"He can pinch a nickel until the buffalo squeals"
NozzleTwister
Houston, Texas
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Close enough for government work" (pronounced "govmint")
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"one-armed paper hanger, no?"
No. It's a one armed paper hanger with the hives"
Or a "One legged man in a A _ _ kicking contest"
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Such as you get the news you need to complete a project yesterday and you say "LOVELY..." with a tone of conern mixed with sarcasm mixed with anger.
<GRIN!>
~NiM
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
When someone on the project is referred to as FIGJAM
F**K I'm Good Just Ask Me!
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tie the wool, to contemplate deeply or to give great consideration to
SCET - Techmaximus
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
The day I finally invent the Skyhook support will be the same day I retire a very wealthy man!
AUCE98
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
(Time to get the welder)
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Not Functioning Good, or... a little more colorful version of that.
Every now and then I see a drawing on a worker's bench and he has written NFG across it. A sly shot at the engineers involved.
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"when s**it hits the fan"
&
"running like a headless chicken"
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"Engineer's ink" = whiteout/TippEx
I got a shock the other day when a colleague said "I am sending a fax to head office" and put the paper into the shredder.
"It is like a f*rting in a rainstorm" = preaching something, but it is ignored by management, because they speak so much.
"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king" = if the engineering team is weak, he who knows a little is the best.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Try this
"When the defication contacts the rotating air displacement device"
Racing and bullfighting are the only real sports...everything else is just a game.
Bob
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Fudge the numbers"....has several meanings but the only thing you need to know is never sign and seal anything when you hear this
1. It will definetely work but I cant find a good reference on how to calculate it
2. Its been standing for 100 years even though it slightly dosent calculate
3. This has to work....figure out a way for it to
4. Its so close and this is a great client
5. Its already built and the guys on Eng-Tips couldnt help me
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Dog and Pony shows" - it's one I have brough cross country to the place I am at now. This is the day that the boss brings in investors, large scale potential clients, we get some free lunch out of the deal cause they always overbuy on the food for the visitors. Yup, it's "dog and pony show time".
"Hacks" - not computer hackers but skilled labor that is not quite up to the task or someone that does an unproffesional job on a regular basis. (it's kinda mean but some have earned it).
"schmooze em" - kiss a little a*s cause it may help us.
"See what you can do" - the boss' way of saying it's not my problem sucker, it's yours.
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Banging In – to call in sick because after calling in you bang the phone down
“I’m not driving that boat.” - I’m not in charge of that action item.
Techmaximus
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Tip of the icebug" - just the beginning
"gnatt's ass" - Very small/overly precise
"FUBAR" - F***d up beyond all recognition
"Dumb as rocks" - often used when describing an architect :)
"Nuke it" - Discard existing design and start over
"Balls to the wall", "Buried", "Flat out", "Busier than a rooster in a hen house" - All mean very busy
It's amazing how many of these expressions there are....
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
This expression was used on another forum here in eng-tips.
Don't know what country the person is in but in the USA we would say, "..then we know that we have a real problem that we can get our teeth into :)
Cheers
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Strider17: True story - My boss was once asked for alloy with a totally incompatible set of properties. He told the customer "yes, it's called Unobtanium 235". "Really" came the reply, where can I get some"?
Nuff said.
If we get a tensile bar or castings with dubious appearance/properties, we normally say that the Cruddite phase has appeared again.
Slighly on the huh - A Suffolk (England) expression meaning that the object in question is not quite aligned in the way it should be.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Best Regards,
Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)
Do you trust your intuition or go with the flow?
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
for instance if you ask How are you?
Not bad = means they're well
Not good = means there is something wrong
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Hg
Eng-Tips guidelines: FAQ731-376
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
i.e. any happening in an open plan office that caused all the heads to appear over the partitions to see what was happening.
We once had one of those "prairie dog events" in an office I worked in where one of the young ladies had a ruck with the boss and walked out of his office slamming the door; not to be missed since his office partitions and door were constructed of metal and glass.
Having made this grand gesture she found she had to return immediately to his office with some more paperwork.
As she was leaving his office for a second time he could be heard to say "And don't slam the ..." the rest was lost as the door slammed into its frame with even more force than before. She was unable to repress a smile at the sight that greeted her in the office: lots of heads peering over half height partions waiting for the next event and an office so convulsed with supressed laughter that no work was done for some time.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
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RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
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Carry on....
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
APQP - (advanced product quality planning) is frequently used to reference our smoking area.
"I'm from Missouri on this" meaning you'll need to "show me".
Michigan Screws - have had the heads turned down to suit 'out of position' c'bores.
Spot calibration - using the spot welding gun to close gaps in mat'l while welding.
Digital manipulation - hand tweaking parts.
E-coat in a can - black spray paint.
President's Choice - directed supplier.
regards,
Hydroformer
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
The APQP comment reminded me of what my current boss once told me about a smoking area in our plant:
"All the world's problems and mysteries have been solved by the philosophy spouted in there."
Kind of lines right up with APQP...
~NiM
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
corus
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Not really. "All hat, no cattle" is more of a deragatory expression here in the colonies.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
I just saw a really descriptive phrase in thread725-122460
What a beautiful expression!
Good Luck
johnwm
________________________________________________________
To get the best from these forums read FAQ731-376 before posting
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RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
This activity is best described by this statement:
"To a Hammer, The Whole World Is A Nail"
"hammering": Is Just About The Only Thing That A "Hammer" Does!
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Every time someone says this, I am reminded that these were essentially the words ("Thou art the man") spoken by Nathan the prophet in confronting King David over David's adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 12:7).
Regards,
William
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"it all went pear-shaped"
I'm not familiar enough with it to expound on its exact connotation but I like the overall impression it gives.
Hg
Eng-Tips guidelines: FAQ731-376
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Here are some other definitions:
Handraulic calculation - to do a calculation by hand - not using a computer application.
Sawing sawdust - to really really really over analyse the situation...
NFI - No f***ing idea
NMJ - Not my job.
NMP - Not my problem.
SEP - Someone elses problem.
Sap-ed up: when someone promises to do something better, faster and add value... just like implementing a SAP system... and doesn't deliver.
"Half baked effort" - someone who didn't put in the effort and got the appropriate result
In music [in my other life I'm a muso], and we're having a bad night, we'll ask the sound engineer to plug in his TP3000, or if really bad, his TP3000+... a reference to a "turd polisher" to make something bad sound good.
Cheers
Rob
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
On a poster in one of our managers' offices: In God we trust, all else must bring data.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
I used to work in America and when I was there, had a fellow Brit for a boss. His use of 'tits-up' was never quite understood by my American colleagues.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Especially in Texas where we find Road-kill "Tits-up" (DOA) all of the time.
(referring to -this job is Dead on Arrival)
However, most of our Road Kill is usually a "sailor".
You know - so flat you can sail it like a Frizby.
Ergo: I have some jobs that are considered "Sailors"..."Tits-up" and run over by everyone so now you can't tell what it started out as!
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Hg
Eng-Tips guidelines: FAQ731-376
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Small picture frame with a
Nice picture of "nursery rhymy" rabbit and some flowers in the background with a
Caption that Said:
"Once Upon A Time, There Was A Lot Of Time."
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Discombobulated - unorganized and confused. "Those plans are so poorly put together, they are all discombobulated."
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This is why I hate 'take-over' or pick-up' jobs. There's so much re-combobulating to do.
regards,
Hydroformer
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GOOD
/ \
FAST __ CHEAP
Pick 2
"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."
-- by Albert Einstein
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"The first 50% of your project will require the first 90% of the resources....
The remaining 50% will require the other 90% of the resources."
"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."
-- by Albert Einstein
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
HgTX: For an explanation of "pear-shaped", this may give a bit more info:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pea2.htm
British Standard Handful - a small indeterminate quantity of one substance thrown into something else to "make it better".
Shitload - a very large quantity of anything e.g. the Australian cricket team have recently lost a shitload of matches. This word has been adopted and made more polite by the BBC of all people e.g. A lorry has dropped a shedload of bricks across all three lanes of the motorway.
Bruv
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One of the favorites at Harley was
"Thanks for coming in today"
Just a tongue in cheek joke among the engineers.
When I moved down south, I let it slip one morning and was responded to with: "Well thank you. That's mighty nice."
"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."
-- by Albert Einstein
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Heard this one today,
'pegged the weirdo meter' for someone who's strangeness is so great it cannot be measured. Not an easy feat in this part of the globe.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"A bit long one end" or "A bit long your end" .. self explanatory
"blue tongue" oxy cutting, usually as a rough alternative to some other metal cutting technique.
Jeff
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"The task has to go through a number of 'wickets'"
wick·et (wkt)n.
1. A small door or gate, especially one built into or near a larger one.
2. A small window or opening, often fitted with glass or a grating.
3. A sluice gate for regulating the amount of water in a millrace or canal or for emptying a lock.
4. Sports. In cricket:
1. Either of the two sets of three stumps, topped by bails, that forms the target of the bowler and is defended by the batsman.
2. A batsman's innings, which may be terminated by the ball knocking the bails off the stumps.
3. The termination of a batsman's innings.
4. The period during which two batsmen are in together.
5. See pitch2.
5. Games. Any of the small arches, usually made of wire, through which players try to drive their ball in croquet.
The intent of the conversation was similar to having to "jump through hoops", but with slightly less oversight.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
The auto industry has us 'pass through gates' as a measure of program status. Timing and success of passing through each gate are tallied into a measurable (APQP) score. Same deal as wickets I guess.
*Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.*
Hydroformer
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Think outside the box" - Come up with a creative idea/solution
Another one I just recently learned was that a "Pecker Head" referred to a part of a pump (not sure exactly which part though).
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"Level 2 Pecker Checker"
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
I encourage you ... = I order you ...
Issue = Problem
There are so many I've heard not on this list. Words like orientated (meaning finished with orientation, synergy, empowerment.
One of my favorite quote: Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
As in: "When flushing a piping circuit containing amines, use COPIOUS amounts of water."
~NiM
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Hg
Eng-Tips guidelines: FAQ731-376
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
Hg
Eng-Tips guidelines: FAQ731-376
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
My apologies to the readers in this one.
~NiM
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
LCD Engineer - 1. someone incapable of doing anything unusual. 2. someone that requires way to much direction (incapable of figuring things out on their own). ex. "The guy sitting next to me is an LCD Engineer. I spend half my day explaning this designs to him."
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."
-- by Albert Einstein
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
To be treated like a mushroom is to be kept in the dark and fed s**t.
RE: Expressions in engineering workplace
here some more...
in a pis***g contest: everybody gets wet...
about a repair done haphazardly:
this will last as much as a f*rt in a basket (original version is in spanish).
saludos.
a.