Let's Come Up With a New Word To Replace "Deadline" As It Is Normally Used In the Y2K Context

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A deadline is a a date which must be met. The word is derived from a line which a prisoner could not cross. If he crossed it, he'd be shot.

In the y2k context the "readiness", "compliancy", "renovation", "remediation" (blah, blah blah, choose your meaningless waffle-word) deadline is a meaningless changeable date, normally several months in the future.

Not only is the y2k deadline subject to change, but the double-secret private meaning of the waffle-word is subject to further revealing definitions as Hoff so aptly demonstrated in his explanation of how the FAA has deceived us with statements of accomplishment, which, when examined in the light of the private FAA definitions, are meaningless.

In the spirit of Yourdon-forum wordsmithing, I'd like to see what the forum can come up with as a more meaningful and accurate word for "deadline." If I recall, Online2Much came up with "ClubFed" as the best name for government confinement shelters. Can he/she reprise his/her role?

I'll kick things off with "deadlie". I also had another, but I forgot it. I'll post it when I remember.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), April 16, 1999

Answers

Puddintame;

How `bout "fibdate" or "liedate" or "nondate" ?

Bruce

-- Bruce Welker (bdw@ngdc.noaa.gov), April 16, 1999.


Since I consider me living in a world quite different from the average I have had to ammend my language, spoken and print often to accomodate my world-view with what exists. A new lexicon if you will. I have resorted as others in past times have with the standards,...Hyphenated words...i.e., media-Y2K-deadline, government-Y2K-deadline,...or using the ever-popular "so-called",...i.e., so-called deadline, so-called government,...you can always go with the asterisk and footnote to define your terms. Or you can just use quotation marks to clue the reader that you question the definition...I hear what you are saying. I refuse to accept inaccurate usage of words, period...language influences thought, read anything about the study of semantics for further details.

Off the top of this noggin I suggest Spin-Deadline, or so-called deadline, or the ever-popular "deadline".

Have fun with your lexicon.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 16, 1999.


I love deadlines. I especially love the swooshing sound they make as they go flying by...

-- Dilbert (the@cube.man), April 16, 1999.

... They have been at a great feast of languages, and stolen the scraps. William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost

You could always go to Orwell, (1984),and look what he has to say on the Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith and his job,...the manipulation of language. Really, I think this is so important. Daily, nightly I hear the bastardization of language on the news, radio and television. Define "collateral damage"...and how is it related to the collateral you put up to get a loan, how on Earth has it been connected with "oops, we killed you civilians", and why do people accept this? Much semantic slipperiness afoot. Who gets to coin words and phrases. I am waiting for my Oxford English Dictionary so I can see who coins what...particularly irksome is when the newsreader says: "ATM Machine". I have to call the Department of Redundancy Department. Caramba. No wonder few people can think critically...the language is so obfuscated as to become meaningless.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 16, 1999.


I like "somepliance" vs "compliance".

Jolly is an etymologist.

-- Jollyprez (jolly@prez.com), April 16, 1999.



Me too, Jolly,...I'll have my people call your people,..we'll do lunch and talk semantics, okay? :-)

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 16, 1999.

We're rapidly approaching the "Bring out your dead"line...

-- Don (whytocay@hotmail.com), April 16, 1999.

Puddintame,

For most of my adult life I have used "timeline" instead of "deadline" to get away from the negative connotations of the latter. I would think that in the y2k circumstance "timeline" is truly appropriate in more ways than one!

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), April 16, 1999.


The NERC announced the new __________ for compliance is June 30, 1999.

a) Wishdate

b) Dreamtime

c) Hopeday

Those are my suggestions.

PJ in TX

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), April 16, 1999.


How about SPINLine.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), April 16, 1999.



Donna -

I would suggest refining your "Spin-Deadline" to something more "spinnish" as in "Spin-Lyin" which could be used to denote not only the DEAD line but also the SPIN line although that may further compute the issue at hand (or perhaps that should be issue at foot and mouth).

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.net), April 16, 1999.


I'd like to hear from some genuine IT people about this, as opposed to the panicked peanut gallery.

From what I've read, when a new system is being developed, the deadline is the date that system must be implemented. But y2k fixes aren't new systems, they're lots of little bits and pieces. These pieces are unit tested, system tested, and returned to production steadily, rather than all at once. An organization undergoing remediation has pieces in most phases - coding, unit testing, system testing, intersystem testing, time machine testing, IV&V evaluation, you name it.

When I'm given a piece of a larger system to work on, my 'deadline' is the time beyond which some project management chart says I will become the critical path if I'm not done by then. The y2k critical path for complete systems (and inter-systems) is well known.

I don't fully understand the call for compliance announcements here. You can't honestly announce compliance until you've completed testing, and you can't ever complete testing -- there's always one more test of something, and always will be. As more pieces are finished, testing is taking place on a wider scale. This is a good sign.

And really, how could someone like GM announce that they had met their deadline for complete compliance, given all of their suppliers?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), April 16, 1999.


Two -- opposite end -- ideas:
"Dropdeadline"
"Wishdate"

-- A (A@AisA.com), April 16, 1999.

Targetdate, proposed date, due date would work. In an administration where a quota is a goal, is does not mean is and a lie is not an untruth, any label would work. A cleaner way would be the work will be done ASAP and then there is no deadline to miss and scare folks or bring out the spin doctors to try to explain why that date was not important after all. The only use of these dates is as a trigger date for more announcements that everything is fixed. I just figured out what is happening. When the deadline date is announced, the PR spin is written at the same time and released automatically when the date rolls around. The only problem is when the mission is not yet accomplished but this is close enough for government work.

-- Steve (ready@a.wow), April 16, 1999.

I humbly suggest that all compliance deadlines from September 1999 forward be referred to as "doomlines." If you cross that line without being compliant, we're doomed.

I love that word. People reading my posts must have no idea of how cheerful I am about the whole topic lately, even though the words seem just the opposite. I think my sense of humor is just expanding to fill the need.

PJ in TX

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), April 16, 1999.



Flint, you know,..since we're talking about word usage, you'd go along way to getting your point across if you'd use less semantically weighted words than,.."panicked peanut gallery". Could you define that lovely weighted phrase please.

You all would be surprised how many english-speaking human beings are ignorant about connotation, word-weight, propaganda, semantics...it is most, or many, people. Flint's above phrase "panicked peanut gallery would score high for aggression, put-down, superiority, etc. And I'm mostly sure he didn't mean it that way...

If you own the words you can rule the world. Go back to Orwell,...go back farther.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 16, 1999.


Where I am, we call it the "target date". Can you say that they are a bad shot? I sure can!

-- (cannot-say@this.time), April 16, 1999.

Flint commented:

"From what I've read, when a new system is being developed, the deadline is the date that system must be implemented. But y2k fixes aren't new systems, they're lots of little bits and pieces. These pieces are unit tested, system tested, and returned to production steadily, rather than all at once. An organization undergoing remediation has pieces in most phases - coding, unit testing, system testing, intersystem testing, time machine testing, IV&V evaluation, you name it. "

Flint, now I have been out of the DP loop for quite some time, but even I can remember those mile long PERT charts. Are you suggesting that NO ONE keeps some kind of overall Project Chart for the COMPLETION of the FAA y2k work? If so we are in DEEPER DO DO's than I suspected.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), April 16, 1999.


JIT-Bifurcation Point...

~C~

-- Critt Jarvis (middleground@critt.com), April 16, 1999.


Sure, Donna:

In this context, the "panicked peanut gallery" are those who don't do program maintenance, don't face programming/engineering deadlines, cheerlead the pessimists, attack the optimists, exaggerate (often misrepresent) the bad news, reject all the good news, and make no further contribution. And we do have such people, quite a few of them.

As for deadlines, I don't see how we can come up with a suitable term if we don't understand the process to which this term is being applied. It's a messy process. If your goal was to have 100% of your applications ready for system testing by X date, and when that date came, 90% of your code was well past testing, back into production, and engaged in inter-organization testing, but 10% wasn't ready to system test yet, did you "miss your deadline"? 90% of your code BEAT your deadline. So how do you call it?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), April 16, 1999.


Dodjem--Deadline-o-De Jeur,Except Mine

-- zog (zog@avana.net), April 16, 1999.

Vapordate

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), April 16, 1999.

I think Brooks has a winner..... Vapordate.... Tis a winner for me

-- (cannot-say@this.time), April 16, 1999.

During 1999 ... "the latest flexible target date passed" ...

Jan. 1, 2000 ... "ground zero zero" ...

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), April 16, 1999.


"Schmedline"

SCHeduled reMEDediation deadLINE

-- PNG (png@gol.com), April 16, 1999.


How about the "oops, we missed it again" line? Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), April 16, 1999.

Can I suggest a word in stead of deadline ? How about "

Due-do-date",sounds really dumb, but maybe I can win some cookies for

it? OREO's are good.

Furie...

-- Furie (furieart@dnet.net), April 17, 1999.


A deadline is a a date which must be met. The word is derived from a line which a prisoner could not cross. If he crossed it, he'd be shot.,,, double-secret private meaning of the waffle-word is subject to further revealing definitions <"deadlie". ,,,"fibdate" or "liedate" or "nondate" ? ,,,Spin-Deadline, or so-called deadline, or the "ever-popular deadline". ,,,I like "somepliance" vs "compliance". ,,,We're rapidly approaching the "Bring out your dead"line... ,,,"timeline" ,,,The NERC announced the new __________ for compliance is June 30, 1999. a) Wishdate b) Dreamtime c) Hopeday ,,,How about SPINLine,,,something more "spinnish" as in "Spin-Lyin" ,,, "Dropdeadline" "Wishdate" ,,,Targetdate, proposed date, due date ,,,"doomlines." ,,,"target date". Can you say that they are a bad shot? ,,,JIT-Bifurcation Point... ,,,Dodjem--Deadline-o-De Jeur,Except Mine ,,,Vapordate ,,, "the latest flexible target date passed" ... Jan. 1, 2000 ... "ground zero zero" ... ,,,Schmedline" SCHeduled reMEDediation deadLINE ,,, "oops, we missed it again" line?>

-- Glad Saturday (Sleep@Midnight.OK), April 17, 1999.

Flint -

Unless you're using Earned Value, you simply state that you're 90% complete and give the new (slipped) ECD for the remaining modules. Given the "game of silly schedules" that apparently has been played in so many Y2K projects, that would be a lovely problem to have.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), April 17, 1999.


Brooks' Vapordate works for my dead-in-the-water line

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), April 17, 1999.

Prevaridate: vi; to establish an unrealistic completion date based on PR spin.

Prevaridation: n; The practice of setting such dates; common practice of governmental and private agencies and of IT managers.

Hallyx

"You are all going to find out too late that it is too late." --- Paul Milne

-- Hallyx (Hallyx@aol.com), April 17, 1999.


Dreadline.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), April 17, 1999.

Dreadline, then on the Breadline... :(

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), April 17, 1999.

Number two proposal ....... schmedline (did you live in NYC ever, PNG?)

... and the number one answer ..... yes, dreadline. Very cool.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), April 17, 1999.


Dudes! Awesome wordsmithing! All the responses are so good that I can't call a clear favorite as there was in the "ClubFed" situation. I will say that Vapordate seems to fit with and extend the canon of information literature.

I should have at least come up with "deadlyin'" as the spinlyin' contributor did.

I'm going to bookmark this one for posterity.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), April 17, 1999.


Is it too late to suggest "spinpoint"?

As in: "Ladies and gentlemen. If you will please look, here on the scheduling chart. The next spinpoint on our Y2K effort will be June 30, 1999. When we reach that point on the calender, please be ready to accept our new verson of official spin concerning our Y2K progress."

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), April 17, 1999.


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