This section serves to expand your regular vocabulary. What separates the men from the boys (or the women from the girls, if you want to equalize things) is v o c a b u l a r y. We cannot stress this point enough. People who have a larger vocabulary have been shown to make more money and get promoted more often.

All

cavalier

(pronounced ka-veh-LIR)

This regal sounding word is an adjective meaning given to thoughtless and often condescending dismissal of weighty matters. Louis XVI’s consort Marie-Antoinette had one of the most widely known cavalier outlooks when she supposedly said “Let them eat cake!” after being informed that the French people had no bread to eat. Nice…

Example: Ralph’s cavalier attitude about the strip mall project’s approaching deadline was not only impacting the firm’s future relationship with the developer, but it was putting his role as project manager in jeopardy.

caveat

(pronounced KA-vee-ott)

Though this word has several variations on meaning, we’re just going to relate its most common definition in day-to-day usage: When assessing, doing or figuring something out, a detail to be considered carefully because it might alter the outcome of the situation.

Example: Jan wanted her interior design firm to land the $10,000,000 campus dorm renovation project, but there was a caveat – she would be required to work with a contractor whom she had been forced to take to court years 17 years ago.

caveat emptor

(pronounced KA-vee-ott EMP-ter)

A Latin term for a doctrine of commerce, namely that a consumer who buys something without a warranty assumes the risk. Let the buyer beware.

Example: When our client bought two cheap Persian rugs from a disreputable vendor, against our recommendation, we threw up our hands and said to him, “Caveat emptor, my friend. Don’t be surprised if those fall apart in a year.” (said tactfully, of course)

chagrin

(pronounced sheh-GRIN)

Chagrin is an odd-sounding, versatile word. Though you can use it as a verb, it is most commonly used as a noun, and it means the distress one feels when beset by disappointment, failure or humiliation. Sad, isn’t it?

Example: Much to Michael’s chagrin, Janice, the project architect pulled him from the Dubai hotel development team and placed him on the Dallas spa and health center development team.

chi

(pronounced chee)

When you hear this word pronounced kigh (rhymes with high), it stands for the symbol "X" - the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet. However, in our case, it comes from Chinese origins and is sometimes also written as ch’i. Essentially it means energy, and you will encounter it in descriptions of the art of feng shui. The word has become much more mainstream, though, especially since Eastern practices have become so popular in Western culture lately. If you’ve ever heard of tai chi, the ancient Chinese discipline of meditative movements practiced as a system of exercises, then you’ve encountered the word.

Example: In the practice of feng shui, introducing pleasant, soothing sounds to a space enhances its positive chi, thereby adding to the good fortune of the space’s occupant.

chicanery

(pronounced shih-KAY-nuh-ree)

At its most simple: trickery and deception, usually by out-foxing an opponent by illegal or underhanded means. It’s a fun word to say, but see that it’s not used to describe your actions.

Example: Although he did not deny it, the lighting distributor made a show of being highly offended by accusations of chicanery in providing multiple, confusing bids to many of the electrical sub-contractors.

clandestine

(pronounced klan-DESS-tehn or klan-DESS-teyen)

This fun word is a fancier way to describe something as secret or surreptitious. That's it.
 
Example: Because he did not want his co-workers to know about the few design projects that he was doing on his own time and not under the umbrella of the firm, Victor had to schedule clandestine meetings with his personal clients during his lunch breaks.

claque

(pronounced KLAK)

When we hear this word it makes us think of “Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers,” the hosts of Car Talk, one of our favorite shows on National Public Radio. But we digress… This claque refers to a group of false flatterers who oly offer praise to someone or some cause because they are hoping to personally benefit from it in some way. It can even go so far as to describe a group of people who are hired to applaud at a performance. Sad, so sad.

Example: Certain famous architects are regularly attended by a claque of hangers-on who strive to raise their own profiles by associating their name with these targets of the media’s attention.

coalesce

(pronounced koh-eh-LEHS)

This verb means to fuse, unite or grow together into a whole. Along that same vein, it can be used to mean to come together and join forces for a common cause.

Example: Towards the end of three-year multifamily development project, the two design teams – one of which had been working on the public/service areas and the other on the private/residence spaces – coalesced into a single project team.

cocooning

(pronounced keh-KOON-ing)

The word cocoon has, of course, been around for hundreds of years, but this verb form is relatively new. Marketing consultant and trend forecaster Faith Popcorn is credited with having coined the term in the 1990s. It means retreating to the seclusion of one’s home for an increased desire for privacy or escape, which results in individuals socializing less. Access to rapidly advancing technologies is certainly a catalyst for the phenomenon. Between high-speed Internet, cell phones and PDAs, satellite and cable television, web cameras, cheap memory storage, and global delivery carriers, people increasingly have the option to work from home. Secondly, falling home entertainment system pricing allows for an increasingly higher quality media experience in one’s living room, making trekking to the local movie theater a less desirable options. Lastly, high gasoline and airline prices encourage less travel and more time enjoying the comforts of home.

Example: After interviewing his newest residential clients for over three hours, Robert realized that he was going to have to do some research on advanced electronics systems integration so that he could effectively accommodate the family’s cocooning tendencies.

codify

(pronounced KAH-deh-fI)

This odd little transitive verb means to classify, systematize or reduce to a code.

Example: Though she knew it was going to be a challenge to get every headstrong project manager’s buy-in, Veronica was determined to codify certain construction document development procedures as to reduce project team size.

cognizant

(pronounced COG-nih-zent)

This is a fancier way to say that you are aware, alert and knowledgeable of something, especially because of your own personal experience. (We think any word with the letter Z in is it preferable to other words. We’re weird that way.)

Example: Valerie was highly cognizant of the fact that layoffs were on the way, and her project management team was sure to be let go first as their biggest client – a nationally known retail bank chain – just declared bankruptcy.

cognoscenti

(pronounced kahg-neh-SEN-tee)

This mouthful of a word is actually the plural form of cognoscente (pronounced kahg-neh-SEN-tee OR kahn-yeh-SHEN-tee), but the former is more commonly used than the latter, and they both sound the same. This Italian term tends to be used interchangeably with connoisseur, its French counterpart with the same Latin origins, but it can have slightly different meaning. In its plural form it designates a group of people having vast knowledge and a refined understanding of a specific subject, especially related to the arts: performing, fine or otherwise. Most commonly, you will see the word associated with fashion.

Example: The color cognoscenti, otherwise known as Color Marketing Group, annually forecasts and influences multiple global industries in the ways of color.

condone

(pronounced cuhn-DOHN)

A verb meaning to consciously excuse, pardon or overlook a mistake, flaw, or action. Also, to behave as though the act or condition is unimportant, inconsequential, or meaningless.

Example: Though they had been co-workers and friends for years, Jason could not condone Olivia’s sudden practice of taking kickbacks from suppliers for specifying their products; not only was the practice unethical, but it also put her design license in jeopardy.

confluence

(pronounced KAHN-flu-ents OR kuhn-FLUents)

Such a calming word confluence is. Its serene nature is fitting as it means a flowing or coming together or gathering at one point, either literal (like streams or rivers) or figurative (like ideas or attitudes).

Example: This month’s project meeting was the smoothest one in the development’s two-year construction period; it was a pleasant, efficient confluence of opinions, goals, and perspectives.