Ode To Pointless Piffles Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Oh these pointless piffles in daily speak,
Trivial sweet nothings brought to life from brink,
An old peahen out newer plumes to seek,
A strut showing off her moth-eaten mink,
Over-used cants trying to get admired,
Words in infertile labour, too much tired.

‘To be honest' of this lot caps the crest,
But he that at home and hearth honest is,
Seldom if ever need vouch that he is,
If not, honesty no more is honest,
Crooked is made a parrot's beak
And still sweetest of words can speak.

Next comes in list: 24/7—
One that works thru the week, and round the clock,
Claims Customer Care taken as given,
But Company Care seems a stumbling block.
‘Value added' ah one more painful piffle,
The value it adds is less than a trifle.

‘To touch base' is a pompous puffy phrase,
But in a world where substance yields to style,
Of synthetic smile and deceit and guile,
Peripherals are all one wants to chase,
Where product seems a much sinned against sage,
Business today is all about package.

And when man's lost even on the surface,
Details and depth weigh as last thing in mind,
Shorn of judgment in hurried pace,
Studied homework gets left behind,
A web of guesstimates is what he weaves,
And a ‘ball-park figure' is all he gives.

Clichés that be much tried, and rather tired,
Used, misused, abused, as are undefined,
Stock phrases, chewed and re-chewed by tired mind,
That should have been long ere retired,
But circulated and recycled still,
They're a lazy writer's OTC pill.
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A survey by ‘Plain English' polled in India and seventy other countries listed Top Ten Corporate Clichés of the English-speaking world. The topmost five among them are lined up in this piece.
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Happenings | 01.05.04 |