administrationese
noun/ədmɪnəˌstɹejʃəˈniːz/
Etymology From administration + -ese.
1
Colloquial, Rare The jargon used in administration.
- It seems strange to have to ask, but suddenly we wonder… […] -why administrators, in their peculiar administrationese, ask for "student input"--and then tell lus^([sic]) our options are foreclosed?1977 December 16, “Commentary”, in The Goucher Weekly, volume 63, number 12, page 2:
- Chairs and faculty members quickly learn that deans speak in strange tongues (ICLMs [Induced Course Load Matrices], FTEs [Full-Time Equivalents], and outcomes are administrationese from three different decades).1994 April 1, Dealing With the Dean, “Dealing With the Dean”, in ADFL Bulletin, volume 25, number 3, →DOI, page 12b of 11–16:
2 more examples
- Englishes used in ESL countries tend to be characterized by […] 3. a restricted input, historically often dominated by administrationese, literary English from Shakespeare to Dickens, and biblical language; its application to other text types can result in register misuse and unusual mixes.1997 September 1, Manfred Görlach, “Varieties of English world-wide: where we stand”, in Links & Letters, number 5, 1998, page 28 of 13-36:
- A stickler for the proper use of the English language, in one of his editorials, FJS commented: “Besides grammatical errors, the language is polluted (even by the ‘educated’) with jargon, clichés, and what I will call administrationese. I cannot count the times I have recently heard ‘going forward.’2008 August 1, William F. Young, Jr., “THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY 2008 LAUREATE AWARDS: Citation for the 2008 Distinguished Physician Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. F. John Service”, in Molecular Endocrinology, volume 22, number 8, →DOI, pages 1977–1989:
- Related terms
- bureaucratese, diplomatese, governmentese, lawspeak, legalese, officialese, probureaucratic