So, I was lined up in my position at an airport gate the other day and one of the people waiting in front of me used the term “airport vultures,” meaning people waiting to board who crowd the gate regardless of where their seats are or when their boarding position is announced. It’s a phenomenon that drives airline gate agents a little nuts and I thought it was a pretty clever description. Somebody also recently used the term “aisle salmon” for the poor folks trying to move in the opposite direction of everybody else on the airplane when they’re boarding or deplaning – usually trying to stow or fetch an overhead bag. So those two terms are now etched in my traveling brain, which makes me ponder how slang tends to evolve and change over time but really sticks with you – can you dig it?

But we can’t lose sight of the fact that there’s a huge difference between slang, which can actually help you connect with real people, and the kind of corporate or bureaucratic jargon that just muddles everything up.