Jenny Rebholz's "Making the Grade" article was exactly what I needed to read today. Thanks for providing Plinth & Chintz as the perfect resource for students. - Lisa Kanarek, student at El Centro College
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.
(pronounced TA-sit; the “a” is like the “a” in bad or cat)
This sweet little adjective is used to describe an idea or feeling that is indicated or implied, though not truly expressed. Additionally, it can describe something that is conveyed without words. We remember its definition by relating sounds. The “s” sound in the word reminds us of the word “silent” or the expression “shhhh.” Just a thought.
Example: Due to their long and successful working and personal relationships, the designer and his client had a tacit agreement that her projects would always take priority.
This term is an adjective used to mean reserved, silent, uncommunicative, reticent, or hesitant to talk.
Example: Vicky understood right away that her taciturn nature was going to be a hindrance in getting promoted to project manager, so she decided she would have to learn to fight her instincts and get out of her comfort zone.
This word is most often used as an adjective, but it can also be used as a noun, especially when referring to material assets or property. Something is tangible when it can be physically touched or perceived by some other sense like smell, taste, sight or hearing. Something is also tangible when it is real or provable, such as a fact or evidence.
Example: Russell’s concept for the themed hotel lobby was a desert oasis. He wanted guests to feel refreshed and overwhelmed upon arrival, and he planned on achieving this with tangible elements of an remote locale: captivating fountains, enchanting flora and exotic scents.
A handy word that means equivalent in worth, significance, or consequence. (Admission: Though having nothing to do with arachnids in any way, this word never fails to conjure images of tarantulas in our brains. Ick.)
Example: Janice regretted that she ever entered into a partnership agreement with her cousin the contractor because, in the eyes of her overly emotional and drama-loving family, any questioning of his craftsmanship or business operations was tantamount to a betrayal of her entire family.
Occasionally we like to throw in a newly developed word that you might not have heard yet but will probably find useful in your career. This is one of them. Telepresence is a word that has receive much more play lately due to the rockier economic times resulting from leaner operating budgets and higher energy and travel prices. This adjective (which also can be used as a noun) explains technologies and environments utilized to model in-person meetings between multiple parties through advanced, high-definition videoconference systems, whether through Internet, land line or satellite transmissions.
Example: Depending on the number of screens, higher-end telepresence systems can set corporations back from $250,000 to $500,000 a room.
Used to describe something having very little strength or substance: thin, light, slender, shaky, weak, flimsy, slight. This pleasant-sounding word can be used to describe something physical (a branch of tree), as well as something intangible (a concept or argument).
Example: The contractor’s reasoning for deviating from the construction documents was tenuous as best; his sub-contractor had simply forgotten to take the detail into account and build it into the contract price.
What a multifunctional word: it can be a noun, it can be an adverb, it can be an adjective. It can even mean a piece of furniture, but you’ll need to go under Design Speak to see that definition. The crazy word comes from the French. (Shocking, we know.) As a noun, it means a private conversation between two people. As an adverb, it means in private. And as an adjective, it means confidential or face-to-face.
Example (noun): Sandy had suspected that the bid process was tainted, but the moment she interrupted a tête-à-tête between the developer and the contractor’s VP of Marketing, she was sure of it.
Example (adjective): “Let’s have a tête-à-tête lunch meeting,” Mitch said. “I don’t want the design firm to know that we’re looking for representation elsewhere, or we’ll have to go back to square one when we’ve barely just started.“
Quit giggling. This word has no reference whatsoever to the crude slang term for human mammary glands. No, this strange little word means having a title signifying a certain rank or function or existing in title only. However, titular is most often used to mean having a title (and, usually, the perks that come along with it), but not actually having the obligations and responsibilities to go along with it.
Example: As he spent more time in Italy than in his office, Jackson was a titular Partner in the architecture and engineering firm he established 23 years ago. And he was perfectly fine with that.
In short: an extremely large or long book, usually on a scholarly subject.
Example: Jenny and her colleagues at the design firm were in absolute shock when they received the tome-like RFP regarding a mere 5,000-sf office space project as it was a ridiculous case of overkill.
We don’t think that this word is used enough. It’s just got that certain something – it’s quick, it’s cute, and it means having an upper-class style or high-toned manner.
Example: Josephine was thrilled to be the lead designer on the historic hotel’s tony new penthouse restaurant, which was sure to be lauded as the most elegant dining experience in the city once it was complete.
The breathy sound made when saying this word aloud seems to reinforce its definition: hot, intense, scorching, passionate, fervent. Whether applied to an object or to a state of mind, torrid is a very strong, descriptive word. Use it wisely.
Example: Though she was giddy about her budding relationship with her co-worker, Jill was starting to get nervous that their IT Department would pick up and report on the increasingly torrid instant messages he was sending her during work hours.
Years ago this black, flint-like stone would be rubbed on silver or gold to test its purity. These days, the word has been appropriated to describe a measure for determining the quality or legitimacy of something. However, it can also mean the basis or fundamental feature of something. It’s this latter meaning that is used in the example sentence.
Example: Molly had worked hard to make respect and integrity the touchstone of her design practice; therefore, when an employee’s behavior flew in the face ofphilosophy, he or she was quickly asked to leave.
Though this cute little verb also means to watch or spy upon, it’s more commonly used in its more positive sense: to acclaim or publicize forcefully or excessively.
Example: Though the local A&D community knew better, local journalists touted the established designer’s new project as cutting-edge and revolutionary.
Similar to a tragedy, a travesty’s connotations are negative: a distorted, corrupted, or greatly inferior imitation or translation of something whether in content, style or overall treatment. You’ll most often hear it used in the phrase “a travesty of justice.”
Example: Although it was exactly what the university wanted, Josie felt that her firm’s design for the new campus library in the vein of a Georgian manor was an absolute architectural travesty.
Deriving from the Latin term meaning “to tremble,” this word is a synonym for fear, panic, alarm and timid agitation and uncertain apprehension.
Example: Because he had had so little time to study, Javier experienced an inordinately large amount of trepidation upon entering the testing center where he would be sitting for the LEED New Construction Exam.
To bridge the gap between the student / educational community and the professional / manufacturer community of the interior design world, and not to die of boredom while we do it.
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Created by a couple of Milwaukee interior designers with a quirky sense of humor, a healthy dose of sarcasm and a heaping serving of caring. Check out Enough Said to find fun t-shirts with a message.
