March-ing forward!

With the financial year coming to a close and you working overtime to meet your yearly targets – and, if possible, exceed them – chasing numbers, framing statements, arranging more meetings… it's pandemonium! While you are keeping an alert eye on your coffers, International Women’s Day is around the bend too! Are you ready for the communication challenge these events bring? Read on, and you'll know.

Gender benders

Women today have a significant and growing presence in the workplace. So while celebrating International Women’s Day in the organisation, make a resolution to modifying your vocabulary, and apply gender-sensitivity to your communication. Doing so will not just pass you off as someone who keeps abreast of times, but also endear you to your female associates. Here are a few frequently-used words to keep in mind.

In the office or other work-related areas, it is best to use:

• ‘Personhours’ instead of ‘manhours’;
• ‘Businessperson’ instead of ‘businessman’;
• ‘Office cleaner’ or ‘housekeeper’ instead of ‘maid’;
• ‘Chairperson’ instead of ‘chairman’;
• ‘Salesperson’ or ‘sales representative’ instead of ‘salesman’/ ‘salesgirl’.

In your everyday life, use words like:

• ‘Synthetic’ or ‘artificial’ instead of ‘man-made’;
• ‘Ancestor’ instead of ‘forefather’;
• ‘Homemaker’ instead of ‘housewife’;
• ‘Layperson’ instead of ‘layman’;
• ‘Human-power’ instead of ‘manpower’.

Mind your business

Here are some popular financial terms that you probably use regularly. However, do you know how they originated? Given here are the origins of these words:

• Vesting (Earning pension over time): the verb ‘vest’ is derived from the Latin word ‘vestire’, meaning ‘to clothe, especially someone holding a rank’. So soon, the word derived the connotation of ‘to place or secure something in the legal possession of a person’.
• Budget (A sum of money allocated for a particular purpose): French merchants, in the Middle Ages, carried money in a ‘bougette’ (little bag). This word has its origins in the Latin word ‘bulga’ (a leather bag). The word got its current meaning during its import into English.
• Finance (Management of money): The word originates from the old French and Latin word ‘fine’ (end). The French word also had the connotation of ‘payment’. However, when the English adapted it in the 18th century, they began using the word only for money management.
• Money (Currency; medium of exchange): The Roman goddess Juno was responsible for warning the Romans of impending danger. So, she was called Juno Moneta – the name meaning ‘warn’ in Latin. As a tribute to her, the Romans built a temple on Capitoline Hill, which later became the place where coinage was kept. The name Moneta eventually evolved into the word money.