Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 19:23:01 -0400

From: Gareth Branwyn GarethB2[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: Re: "Murphy's Law" and aviation oral history



"Letter, we get letters, we get stacks and stacks of letters..."



Thought folks here might find this letter interesting:





A couple of things for the collection:



[1] Noted "Generica" in your book, Jargon Watch. I've been using the term

"Generican" for about 15 years to describe the accent which most newscasters

and midwesterners have -- none. I've also used it to describe people with no

traceable ethnic background.



[2] Jithead -- an international transportation term used to describe people--

inspired by all the shipping industry publications--who order goods on a

"JIT" or "just in time" basis, and who freak a streak when told that they

didn't order early enough. Usage: "The guy should have ordered it a month

sooner. He's a real jithead."



[3] Billy Lading -- any one of a thousand L.A.-based Asian forwarding

companies who has a one-person, one-room office, a one-line phone which is

switchable to a fax or modem line, and who is so low-budget they even steal

office supplies (like paper clips) from incoming documentation.



Regards,

Warren S. Levine

Seattle, Washington



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