Davos jargon: A crime against the English language?

The annual World Economic Forum takes place amid freezing temperatures in snowy Davos, but inside the myriad meeting rooms and conference halls, there's more than a little hot air.

Some of this is generated by a form of English unique to this gathering, which can be mystifying - even to the seasoned WEF watcher.

To help, we've compiled a short list of bewildering terms and phrases overheard or read at Davos, and attempted to decipher them, with limited success.

• More from Davos on the BBC

Benchmarking

Brings to mind a bulging, sweaty weightlifter attempting to beat their personal best.

According to Bain, benchmarking is when "managers compare the performance of their products or processes externally with those of competitors and best-in-class companies, and internally with other operations that perform similar activities in their own firms".

So that's all clear then.

Circularity

To quote the inimitable Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride: "You keep using that word; I don't think it means what you think it means."

According to the dictionary, circularity does mean: "the fact of an argument or a theory using an idea or a statement to prove something which is then used to prove the idea or statement at the beginning".

Circularity does not mean: a measure of the process by which a product is reused in a "circular" economy.

Cyber realities

Is this virtual reality? Is it the reality of the digital world in which we live? Is it a reality experienced by cyborgs? Beats me. Probably best elucidated by sci-fi novelist Philip K Dick.

Deep dive

If you're not talking about Tom Daley, avoid.

Flashpoints

A place, event, or time at which violence or hostility flares up. Not the point at which all Davos traffic is diverted down side roads by people in high-vis jackets waving glow sticks, apparently.

Implementation mode

"Defined as to what extent a system is coupled to organisational objectives during the implementation process. An implementation mode which decouples performance indicators (PIs) from organisational objectives seems to further implementation success."

You can thank A Johnsen's 1999 work, Implementation Mode and Local Government Performance Measurement: A Norwegian Experience, for that.

Influencers

People who influence. How they differ from Thought Leaders is anyone's guess.

Interplay

Definitely not the same as interaction. Or indeed Linkage, see below.

Linkage

A word, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, which sadly does not pronounce on literary taste.

Material improbabilities

This comes from Marsh & McLennan's new report. The following paragraph should clear things up:

"Producing an inventory of material emerging risks requires both divergent and convergent thinking: on the one hand, thoughtful research and wide-ranging consultation; on the other, an effective mechanism for triaging issues and aligning on top concerns."

Multifaceted metrics

Look, you'll know one when you meet one.

Multi-stakeholder platform/principle

A "crucial mechanism". For instance, actively involving a "wide range of stakeholders - from civil society, to academia, business, and more - in order to ensure that all members of society benefit from intellectual property", according to the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Negative feedback loop

Like, this article? On a serious note, this describes the cascading effect that one sector of the economy failing can have on other sectors or countries.

See more at: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42791874

Legal Terminology or Jargon in Contracts

Nowadays more and more lawyers use plain English in contracts, although there are some who still insist on using legalese. At worst this can mean that some contracts are impossible for non-lawyers to read, and is not helped by the fact that the law uses a number of Latin terms. These two elements can make reading contracts a baffling experience for the rest of us! Below are some of the most commonly used legal words and phrases and their explanations:

Best Endeavours

Contracts will often bind one or more parties to using ‘reasonable’ or ‘best’ endeavours to do something. There is no solid definition as to what this actually means, and lawyers have argued whether there is in fact a distinction between ‘reasonable’ and ‘best’ in this context. Broadly speaking, however, it places a burden on a party to a contract to ‘try their best’, or do all that can reasonably be expected of them in the circumstances.

Bona Fide

Bona fide literally means ‘in good faith’. In the context of agreements, this is used to describe the intentions of the parties. In other words, a ‘bona fide agreement’ is one which is entered into honestly and without an intention to defraud. The opposite of ‘bona fide’ is ‘mala fides’ which means ‘in bad faith.’

Dissolution

This refers to the act of bringing an agreement to an end. If an agreement is dissolved, either between the parties or by a court, both parties will be restored to their original positions (as they were before they entered into the contract.) This term is also used in relation to marriages and corporate partnerships, amongst other things.

Force Majeure

This provides a ‘get out clause’ for parties to a contract in the event that an unforeseen event, that was not within their control, prevents them from carrying out their obligations under the contract.

Implied Terms

These are terms that form part of the contract even though they are not expressly included in the text of the contract. Perhaps the most common are those provided in contracts for the sale and/or supply of goods. As an example: if A sells merchandise to B, B would be entitled to assume that A had the legal right to sell him the merchandise – even though this right may not be explicitly spelt out on the contract.

Infringement

This relates to trademarks, which are a form of intellectual property. A trademark is infringed if an unauthorised person has used it, or a very similar trademark, for their own gain.

Inter alia

This is a latin term that means ‘amongst other things.’ For example, the judge went on to say, inter alia, that the contract was unenforceable.

Passing Off

This is a tort in common law that protects the rights of someone who has an unregistered trademark. For example, if Y misleads members of the public into thinking that they are dealing with X trader (when in fact it is Y) in order for Y to make a profit for themselves, X will sue under this tort.

Preamble

A preamble is found at the start of a commercial agreement. There should be no legally binding terms in this part of the contract. It is simply used to provide an introduction by way of background to the agreement, or the nature of the parties to the contract (e.g. X is a manufacturer of goods supplying to Y, a seller of goods.)

Privity Of Contract

This rule forbids third parties from being able to sue or be sued under a contract to which they are not a signatory. It means that only the parties to a contract can sue or be sued under it.

Recitals

The recitals are very similar to the preamble and are situated at the beginning of the contract. The recitals often start with the word ‘Whereas’ and are also known as the ‘whereas clauses.’ This part of the contract should not contain rights or obligations of the parties, but is merely there to explain or introduce the nature of or background to the contractual relationship.

Restrictive Covenant

A restrictive covenant is most often seen in contracts relating to land and employment contracts. In the case of land, it restricts the land from being used or developed in certain ways. In the case of employment contracts, it restricts an employee from doing certain things at the end of his or her employment. This may include not competing with their former employer, not dealing with former clients, not ‘poaching’ former colleagues and not using the former employer’s confidential information for any purpose.

Undertaking

An undertaking is a promise to do, or not to do, something. It is commonly used between lawyers to prove their good intentions. For example, if an original document needed to be served by 4pm, a solicitor could fax it and provide an undertaking that the original would be posted first class that evening.

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