Acronyms and other gobbledygook

[NutLoose]

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/the-british-army-doesnt-make-much-sense-anymore/

I bet there is a lot more than that in use. You just have to read the preface to the RAF yearbook.

[ExAscoteer2]

Just where are the acronyms there then?

[skua]

And a simple method of giving your spoken or written comms more impact is to use an Anglo-Saxon word instead of a Latin derived one.
Prime example :
Avoid "commence" (far too popular in mil speak),
Use "start".

[MG]

Having spent a decent amount of time in industry, having done a fair few years in the military, I can safely say that the only time I hear ‘business speak’ is when listening to a senior officer, usually one who has recently attended, or aspires to attend, Staff College.

[bobward]

When I was in paid employment, it was usual to find those in middle management and those climbing the greasy pole would talk in their own language, leaving the rest of us to try and translate. One way of we plebs fighting back was to make up our own acronyms - I guess most of you will have done this as well. It was surprising how few on the receiving end, who had no idea what we were describing, had the courage to ask what had been said.

[charliegolf]

Just where are the acronyms there then?

It's the TLAs that annoy, more than the acronyms.

CG

[Ken Scott]

Some acronyms make sense allowing for a simpler word (eg: LAIRCM), others less so:


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/640x1136/dd17dbba_518a_4ee3_9761_0e6503778577_9108f54b956ba7f13464680 e99121ef56bb10145.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/600x410/ebb3e1e7_eb84_4d96_b856_90fe9f595554_3914ce547c86c73af96f56c 7e91f99d893133074.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/556x366/a685cff0_323a_4b4e_b4fe_ac534bab09c4_b7d91c7d6e094da20569c78 43ba0d9d2ab9f55a6.jpeg

[LOMCEVAK]

Whatever happened to the basic principles of brevity, clarity and relevance? The current phrase that really annoys me is ‘moving forward’ rather than ‘in the future’. To me moving forward is what my car does after I release the brake etc. The other appalling word that has crept into management speak is ‘outwith’. I am so glad that I was educated and grew up in the previous millennium!

[brakedwell]

Just put it in plain English!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1024x696/katmandu_ami_hashish_centre_5d4282507d9519673a092539d5cbf014 00d6812f.jpeg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1024x681/katmandu_a_dodgy_hotel_13c0caacdfe2aa797d962a93405e45c7b55ea 864.jpeg

[thunderbird7]

"Uptick" grrrrrr.....

[NutLoose]

Try this for padding out a speech.

To secure Battle of Britain (https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/our-history/anniversaries/battle-of-britain/) victory, the RAF, working with industry and global allies, drove a battle-winning technological advance at an extraordinary pace. This innovation-drive continues with each generation, as the RAF seeks to maintain the ability to operate in the ever more complex, competed and contested multi-domain operating environment of the future.

https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-looks-to-the-future-on-battle-of-britain-day/

[Sleeve Wing]

“At this moment in time” really “gets up my nose” ....! :mad:

[NutLoose]

https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/senior-commanders/chief-of-the-air-staff/

The Chief of the Air Staff is the 4-star commander and professional head of the Royal Air Force.

as opposed to amateur?

Staff appointments in the Ministry of Defence have included the Operations Directorate and the predecessor to what is now Military Strategic Effects.

[NutLoose]

Another one off the RAF website and a lesson in how to tick every box.

I regard Diversity & Inclusion as essential elements of the Royal Air Force. Through both we will develop wisdom, increase insight and deepen our understanding of the World today. This will improve our decision-making and enhance our lethality as we confront the challenges ahead.

We must attract and nurture diversity through race, religion, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/reassignment, marriage/civil partnership and pregnancy alongside increased socio-economic representation and greater cognitive diversity if our Service is to succeed and prosper. Visible and invisible Diversity will enrich our understanding of the World, broaden our insight into its challenges and widen our debates to allow us to make better decisions, build velocity and act more effectively as a Service. In parallel, Inclusivity allows us to harness the innate and collective power of our Whole Force. We will benefit from a sum greater than the parts and materially and cognitively mobilise the workforce through a real sense of worth and reward. Everyone’s intellect, perspective and cultural points of view are vital to the Service’s endeavours.

As the Royal Air Force Diversity & Inclusion Champion, I will deepen and broaden Diversity across the Service and extend and exploit Inclusivity across the Command. I am passionate about this and will be a strong advocate for both. I will lead our drive, set the direction, harness the network, direct the Champions and demand progress. I will seek out and reward positive behaviours and role models in order to inspire others and raise awareness of our successes. I will be an active and engaged ambassador with external organisations, which will help make our Service more accessible to minorities and enable us to learn from others.


and I do wonder how that lot of erm…. fits in with this off the same site.

Do not get me wrong I am not against any of the above diversity, but if you are recruiting bus drivers you do not advertise for, nor recruit blind people, similarly if you are recruiting combat troops, you need fit people and able people, that’s just playing sensible.


Everyone who joins the RAF must pass a fitness test.

Pre-Joining Fitness Test

The test is called the Pre-Joining Fitness Test (PJFT). To pass, you’ll need to run 1.5 miles (2.4km) on a treadmill within a set time. Then you’ll need to do a minimum number of press-ups and sit-ups within a minute. The time limit for the run and the number of press-ups and sit-ups will depend on your age and gender.

[vascodegama]

I would say that a large number of all ranks should look at GO's rule 4.

Also the author of the original article should be careful with his apostrophe use!

[Haraka]

1991 working with our senior transatlantic allies regarding a possible overnight development.

" I'll make a straw man of this and run it up the flagpole for the head shed before breakfast".

[NutLoose]

Battlespace is the one that gets me.

[tucumseh]

Whatever happened to the basic principles of brevity, clarity and relevance? The current phrase that really annoys me is ‘moving forward’ rather than ‘in the future’. To me moving forward is what my car does after I release the brake etc. The other appalling word that has crept into management speak is ‘outwith’. I am so glad that I was educated and grew up in the previous millennium!

'Outwith'. Perfectly good and commonly used Scottish word.

'Moving forward'. No, I just turn round and walk away. 'Ahead of...' A head of cabbage please.

MoD issues a book 'MoD Acronyms and Abbreviations - Definitions for terms and acronyms used throughout MoD documentation'. Over 21,000 of them in the 2014 version!

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-acronyms-and-abbreviations


Shortly before I retired I was gobsmacked to learn of an MoD office, in Oxfordshire I think, which you can call up and ask for the formal MoD definition of any word or phrase. Think of the fun you could have...

[NutLoose]

Lol, pun intended, for each acronym there can be up to ten different meanings, you are screwed if you use several in the same document.

[Big Pistons Forever]

The Canadian Armed Forces has a manual of abbreviations. The first abbreviation listed in the official manual of abbreviations is the abbreviation for abbreviation; ABVN :D

My all time favourite example of MILSPEAK, however was an initiative by the USAF to designate broken aircraft as being subject to an “unscheduled unserviceabilty”

[ORAC]

Lol, pun intended, for each acronym there can be up to ten different meanings

As I found out when we set up the UKCAOC, so many different mission specialisations, plus engineering and supply and others, all using the same acronyms for different things. I had a spreadsheet just to remind so as not to use the wrong one rather than spelling it out when sending out a document.

[Ninthace]

Battlespace is the one that gets me.
I rather grew up with that one.. What was it before and did it have the same connotations?

[treadigraph]

Mission creep seems to have crept into civvy business parlance amongst the usual gibberish-spouting would-be high fliers...

[Ninthace]

Once we acquired a VSO who was heavily into management speak. Before he was in post, our CO, a very clever lady, invited him for a briefing about what we did. I still remember her introducing him to our "product lines".
Later on we had management red in tooth and claw. There was the never to be forgotten meeting with the boss when management plans were introduced and everyone had to have mission and a vision statement. It went along the lines of:
"The AOC has his vision"
"Yes Boss"
"And the CO has her vision"
"Yes Boss"
"And I, I have my vision"
"Yes Boss"
"And you Ninthace"
"Don't tell me sir, I get to hear voices"
He being an Engineer, it was entirely lost on him and a subsequent quip about raising an army and driving the English out of France probably didn't help. :rolleyes:

[ORAC]

So you didn’t get burnt at the stake by your own side?

[NutLoose]

I rather grew up with that one.. What was it before and did it have the same connotations?

i would say battlefield, now I know battlespace is supposed to be all signing all dancing air, sea and land combined force, but battlefield also incorporated all three in combined operations such as Normandy or the Far East, the technology may have improved on how information was passed and is more fluid, but it was still a combined operation with troops on the ground able to call in air power or naval gunfire support. And let’s face it, the amount of assets you would bring to a modern fight is a drop in the ocean compared to WW2.


​​​​​​…

[cynicalint]

Nutty, from an Air delivered precision guided weapon aspect (Gobbledegook!), whether the launch platform be submersed, surface or airborne, the number of assets needed today to acheive the same effect as WWII is also a drop in the ocean.
At the same time, in line with the thread, a major threat to security then was the transparent wall cleansing engineering technician observing confidential military battlespace operations involving warfighters and battlespace managers attempting to deliver kinetic effects that would s shape the immediate battlespace to coalition better effects.
(The window cleaner saw where the bombers were going to drop the bombs to help the war effort!)

[ve3id]

The Canadian Armed Forces has a manual of abbreviations. The first abbreviation listed in the official manual of abbreviations is the abbreviation for abbreviation; ABVN :D

My all time favourite example of MILSPEAK, however was an initiative by the USAF to designate broken aircraft as being subject to an “unscheduled unserviceabilty”

I once mentioned to the (ex-mil) CFI that I always found INTXN confusing - didn't know whether it meant intersection or intoxication. He said that since I learned to fly at Br**** it probably was the same for me :-)

[The Nr Fairy]

Yet another article in praise of efficient communication - https://wavellroom.com/2021/02/12/it-is-time-to-kill-our-darlings-rhetoric/

[LOMCEVAK]

'Outwith'. Perfectly good and commonly used Scottish word..

Interesting. I have spent a lot of time in Scotland ('70s to '90s) but do not recall hearing this used; it obviously then just seemed to be part of the local language and appropriate. However, I bet that its current usage in 'management speak' is not with due deference to the language of those north of the border!

[Ninthace]

i would say battlefield, now I know battlespace is supposed to be all signing all dancing air, sea and land combined force, but battlefield also incorporated all three in combined operations such as Normandy or the Far East, the technology may have improved on how information was passed and is more fluid, but it was still a combined operation with troops on the ground able to call in air power or naval gunfire support. And let’s face it, the amount of assets you would bring to a modern fight is a drop in the ocean compared to WW2.


​​​​​​…
Not sure battlefield quite cuts it in my book. A battlespace can be in space, in the air, on the ground, at sea, in cyberspace, in people's heads or any combination thereof, depending on the objective.

[Buster Hyman]

I'm a member of the PAA. (People Against Acronyms)

[ATSA1]

When i hear "Battle Space", I always think of this...
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1280x994/1280px_battle_space_range_triang_hornby_thcat_1970__809fa133 7a439e92e22adead2ac8e9d3e81b1389.jpg

[bobward]

I just hope our current SecDef hasn't seen post 33 yet. Think how much money could be saved if we bought this stuff off the shelf.....

[Lonewolf_50]

When I had to ride herd on squadron correspondence, I became familiar with the DICNAVAB (https://www.biblio.com/book/dictionary-naval-abbreviations-wedertz-bill/d/1397192061)
It used to bother me that neither BOHICA nor DILLIGAS were featured as official abbreviations, because along with FUBAR, those were the most commonly used ones on a day to day basis.
Bend Over, Here It Comes Again
Do I Look Like I Give A Sh1t?




[ShyTorque]

Not sure battlefield quite cuts it in my book. A battlespace can be in space, in the air, on the ground, at sea, in cyberspace, in people's heads or any combination thereof, depending on the objective.

Or your front doorstep when you’re late home from the pub and the missus stayed up…..

[NutLoose]

I'm a member of the PAA. (People Against Acronyms)


What’s the penis appreciation academy got to do with it?

[Wasser]

I was nearly a FART... then somebody cancelled the Nimrod AEW.

[NutLoose]

Stakeholders.... I mean for forks sake..

[hoodie]

"Stakeholders", yes. Buffy was one of them.

[Akrotiri bad boy]

I've had a complete throbber foisted on me who spends the day playing on Excel creating pie and bar graphs which threaten to expose my low output rate. He constantly chips in with "gap analysis" (something to do with peering into a hole) and "granular detail". I think the latter has something to do with the molecular structure of the universe, or perhaps the refinement of sugar cane. I'm open to suggestions.:confused:

[NutLoose]

"gap analysis"

Tell him you are mindful of the gap. :)

[NutLoose]

You never buy a house now, it's a property... :ugh:

[Party Animal]

You no longer have anything to do with flying an aircraft - it’s now an air system!

[treadigraph]

You never buy a house now, it's a property... :ugh:

Which perfectly fits my theory that many people will never use one syllable if three or more will do... example I saw years ago is "personal transportation facilitator" = bus driver. 'Twas writ thus on a TfL bus info notice I was reading while travelling on said personal transport along with about 20 other customers... er, passengers.

[LeftBlank]

Experience has taught me that people who use words like “stakeholder” and “granular” usually have very, very small appendages which they spend an inordinate amount of time playing with because one, they don’t have any real friends and two, they can’t actually do the job they are supposed to be supervising. It’s a sad world.

[BizJetJock]

Stakeholder is a good one since its original meaning is almost exactly the opposite of how it is used in business-speak:
(in gambling) an independent party with whom each of those who make a wager deposits the money or counters wagered.

[albatross]

When I flew civilian Bell 212s for the UN.
The UN always had an ex-military fellow as “Chief Air Staff Officer”. Some were great guys, others - not so much.
My “Tasking” for today?
Don’t know, what does the “Frago” say?
“Wait one!” Just “Hang Fire” and I’ll “Reach out” to “Command Authority”. Then we’ll “impact our options”.
Nothing like a good dose of jargon to start the day.
“Reach Out” sounds like a panhandler in the street asking for a handout. Especially when what is actually needed is to loudly sound reveille in the upper reaches of the organization in New York.
Of course because of time zones it’s 0700 where you are and midnight in NYC and they only work from 0900 to 1600 Monday to Friday. No one is there Sat. and Sun. plus they don’t work on holidays and at the UN there are lots of holidays. “ No one is working in that office today because the person in charge is from XXXX and today is their national day”.
Need quick decisions? Be prepared to wait 3-4 daze minimum for a reply and if it a hard decision they start ignoring your message immediately until they can delete your email and put the hard copies through the paper shredder. “Request? What request?” Trust me don’t make an issue of this or the co-operation level will totally flat line.
The search for the “Weapons of Mass Distraction” in Iraq before the last “Operation Frequent Manhood” was run from NYC. Oh what “fun” we had…how little we accomplished.
Sorry for the thread drift.

[MaxR]

If someone says "reach out" you are obliged, regardless of location or context, to sing "2, 3, 4, I'll be there with a love that will shelter you" very loudly

[Null Orifice]

Is that anything to do with 'outreach' ?

[Buster Hyman]

What’s the penis appreciation academy got to do with it?
Now, now. Just because you didn't want everyone to know you were a Junior Member, doesn't mean you need to get upset.

[Ninthace]

I thought it was Purple A*sed Ape

[teeteringhead]

With reference to "reaching out":


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/530x377/attachment_1_51ae5dcb3c8af68621496f4f651cb6f92798c380.png

[ShyTorque]

I’m a founder member of S.O.U.B.*

Reach out = ask.

*Stamp out unnecessary bull£hit.

[octavian]

With reference to "reaching out":


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/530x377/attachment_1_51ae5dcb3c8af68621496f4f651cb6f92798c380.png
Good call teeteringhead.

[Watson1963]

LOM, with you on "Moving forward" 🤬

"Levelling up" 😡

​

[Ninthace]

LOM, with you on "Moving forward" 🤬

"Levelling up" 😡

​
Surely, should be levelling off ………………..oops, aviation content :uhoh:

[NutLoose]

Spiral develop.

[Willard Whyte]

Surprised workplace hasn't been replaced with workspace yet.

[Hydromet]

Surprised workplace hasn't been replaced with workspace yet.
I assure you, in some workspaces it has.

[MPN11]

Surprised workplace hasn't been replaced with workspace yet.
Soon to be followed by "wokespace", I assume? The one with the gender-neutral vegan canteen.

[Dunhovrin]

all signing all dancing
​​​​​​…

Very inclusive of you, old bean..

We had a very old and bold MALM when I was a stude at Shawbury who used to see how long it took a buzzphrase used by a politician to filter down to being used by a staish at Monday prayers. A whole weekend was the record.

Off topic… but one of my (many) regrets in life was not buying a 1945 edition of “A Dictionary of Military Slang”. It was brilliant but also thirty quid in 1990 money. Beats all,of our current doublespeak into a cocked hat. And before someone offers me a pointer to Rick Jolly’s “Jackspeak” this was the original source. I’m not sure that was the correct name as a zillion drunken Googles haven’t found it.

Anyway, moving forward, at the end of the day, let’s press.

[ORAC]

Sure it was 1945?

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/first-edition/Dictionary-Forces-Slang-1939-1945-Partridge-Eric/18113025433/bd

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-Forces-Slang-1939-1945-Partridge/dp/B0000EFT61

[ORAC]

From Germany, to go with Battlesphere, I give you…. Dimension Commands…

https://defbrief.com/2021/07/13/germany-stands-up-space-command/

“The establishment of the command is one of the Key Elements of the Bundeswehr of the Future, a new vision for the country’s armed forces released by the defense ministry in May this year.

According to the vision, the Bundeswehr is to have more troops and fewer staff, more material ready for deployment and faster procedures. The control of deployable forces is to be strengthened by “dimension commands.”

These will exist for land, sea, cyber and information space, and air and space dimensions. Four inspectors, Army, Air Force, Navy, Cyber and Information Space, will lead the responsible dimension commands and train and provide ready forces.

The new Bundeswehr Space Command is thus the first urgent structural measure from the vision. Its establishment represents the logical further development of the Center for Space Operations.”…..

[Ninthace]

So in an effort to “have more troops and fewer staff” they start another command? Last time I looked. Commands had lots of staff, or at least they did in Strike, Support and PTC.

[ACW599]

Does anyone else dislike "at pace" or is it just me? What's wrong with "quickly"?

[Jetset 88]

Me too, and the trend in office-speak to use the word 'impact' instead of 'affect' really get my goat........ 'platforms' instead of 'departments' is another one.
We're getting old I fear!

[oldgrubber]

I attended the first ever Merlin "M" Sup course at Westland Helicopters where we were issued 4 very large books, essentially covering every topic and system. In the first book was a list of all acronyms and such like, contained within. If you went to "MCA" (minimum crutchless area) it directed you to "see thong". Sure enough there was a "thong" in the list which then referred you back to MCA.

[albatross]

A fellow pilot used to have a very good term he used frequently to describe this stuff”.BAFFLEGAB”.
We walked out of a meeting once and his comment upon same was: : “Well, after the last painful hour, I must admit I know much less now than when we walked in.”

“If you can’t dazzle them with facts baffle them with bullsh*t.”

[treadigraph]

I recall an unlamented former boss of mine, proud of her MBA in Marketing Yuk Speak, telling my professional colleagues in a "how goes it" meeting to "wake up and smell the coffee!" Man was I embarrassed...

[cynicalint]

Posted 15 years ago!

TLAs are SOP TFN in THE RAF. SQNs and FLTs are to RTB to SHQ WIE. All SROs from OCA, OCS. OCOPs, OCENG and the CO for will, WIE contain nonsense. The overarching conceptual solution of this order provides an integrated operational architecture that will instil a balanced secure option to ensure a conventional communication capability that will combine historic prove systems with optimistic promising innovations to prolong the existence of MBA VMD (Verbal Mouth Diahorea)

can't put it any simpler!!

[Dunhovrin]

Sure it was 1945?

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/first-edition/Dictionary-Forces-Slang-1939-1945-Partridge-Eric/18113025433/bd

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-Forces-Slang-1939-1945-Partridge/dp/B0000EFT61

Brilliant chap, ordered already! Many thanks.:ok:

[Torchy]

I had a Gp Capt who constantly referred to “much low hanging fruit” and always mentioned the need for “more traction”

[Haraka]

"HR". From experience, about how long a planned short management meeting will drag on for if there is "Human Remains" participation......

[MrBernoulli]

MoD issues a book 'MoD Acronyms and Abbreviations - Definitions for terms and acronyms used throughout MoD documentation'. Over 21,000 of them in the 2014 version!

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-acronyms-and-abbreviations

Shortly before I retired I was gobsmacked to learn of an MoD office, in Oxfordshire I think, which you can call up and ask for the formal MoD definition of any word or phrase. Think of the fun you could have...

Can't say I am surprised by that gem, Tuc!

I haven't been able to find an up to date online version of JSP 101 Defence Writing Guide (apparently the latest version was published in 2019?), but the UK Ministry of Defence Writers’ Handbook, Sept 2020 Edition, includes the following in it's opening pages:

"You should aim to write in a way that will be easily understood by your intended audience. Use clear and straightforward language – avoid unnecessarily long words, gobbledegook and jargon."

"Our publications need to capture all relevant information, whilst being concise with short, simple messages that can be read and understood quickly. Research has also shown that if you write using the plain English principles, your reader is more likely to retain the information for longer."

Additionally, the document quotes writer and philosopher John Ruskin (1819-1900):

"Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.”

What a shame the senior officers have so much trouble applying official advice to their own trite, padded-out, meaningless, claptrap! Having served over 22 years in military aviation, I saw plenty of this written nonsense, and it increased during the last 5 to 8 years of my service time.

However, it is one relatively plain phrase that sticks in my mind, trotted out yearly in various forms by Very Senior Officers, along the lines of "The RAF faces increasing challenges in the coming year". I knew that just meant we were going to be doing more work, in various sh1teholes of the world, with less resources than last year. 🙄

But then we all know that so many non-military organisations are also replete with departments and/or people whose very existence, and fancy job titles, seem to be dependent on producing reams of gobbledygook and assorted effluent. Give a numpty bluntie a word processor, and their output will dwarf Encyclopædia Britannica, but tell you very little, if anything. My current airline employer is a good example of this.

[ORAC]

In short, don’t be prolix.

[Manwell]

https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/senior-commanders/chief-of-the-air-staff/



as opposed to amateur?
No, as opposed to the boss, Nutloose. Remember what the R in RAF, RN, and RA stands for? Technically speaking, she isn't their paid head, but some associated corporate entity would bank the profits. Serco maybe, or the Crown Corporation?

[Thud105]

Remarkable how many people think something is an acronym when it's actually an initialism.

[Il Duce]

My boss emailed me and asked me to contact the RPC to get a ROM for a job on the airfield. I walked along the corridor and asked him what it was he wanted exactly. Reply, "Get hold of Babcock's and find out out how much so and so job will be." RPC being Regional Prime Contractor and ROM being Rough Order of Magnitude. What happened to plain English? Worse still, what is this latest affectation whereby people start every sentence with the word "sew" (as in needlework instructions)? Or it might be "sow" (as in seeds). Could be "so". In any case, complete waste of time and adds nothing to the conversation. On top of that, there's the latest fashion of making every statement sound like a question? - "So, we got here in like a minibus?" "Sow, I heard about it on the TV?" "Sew, sow the seeds 5cm apart?"

And Town Hall and Windscreen Tour. Utter keech (as they say north of the border).

[NutLoose]

I had a Gp Capt who constantly referred to “much low hanging fruit”

perhaps he saw his roll as a branch manager.

[wub]

Worse still, what is this latest affectation whereby people start every sentence with the word "sew" (as in needlework instructions)? Or it might be "sow" (as in seeds). Could be "so". In any case, complete waste of time and adds nothing to the conversation. On top of that, there's the latest fashion of making every statement sound like a question? - "So, we got here in like a minibus?" "Sow, I heard about it on the TV?" "Sew, sow the seeds 5cm apart?"

And Town Hall and Windscreen Tour. Utter keech (as they say north of the border).

I totally agree with ‘so’, it drives me mad. Up here we say ‘keich’

[Fitter2]

People are expected to start answering a question without a pause, without time to consider an answer. 'So' just a placeholder for 'hang on, I'm thinking of a way to not answer the question I was asked, and if I waffle long enough everybody might have forgotten what it was'. It has replaced 'um' which was interpreted as meaning 'That wasn't covered in my brief, so I'm going to make up something plausible'.

[Ninthace]

People are expected to start answering a question without a pause, without time to consider an answer. 'So' just a placeholder for 'hang on, I'm thinking of a way to not answer the question I was asked, and if I waffle long enough everybody might have forgotten what it was'. It has replaced 'um' which was interpreted as meaning 'That wasn't covered in my brief, so I'm going to make up something plausible'.
When studying for foreign language orals, it was useful to have a few stock phrases up your sleeve to buy thinking time.

Je n‘ai pas encore tous décidé mais probablement…….and it’s German equivalent could really be dragged out with an appropriate amount of Gallic or Germanic accent.

“So” by comparison just doesn’t cut it. Try things like “I haven’t actually had a chance to study the article/paper/ programme to which you refer but …..”. buy time and often give you a chance to drag in an irrelevance or whataboutism and then you can throw in the message of the day and thereby fail to answer the question at all while filling in airtime. Watch BoJo and Gove, they are really good at it. In all seriousness, it is a technique taught on media skills courses.