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The Tragedy Of Connotation / My Queer Friends

"Connotation... an idea or feeling invoked by a word in addition to its primary or literal meaning."*
"Queer >adjective... strange; odd"*

*According to my Correl Word Perfect 12 dictionary.

There are those that say our language is evolving. I say our language is devolving! Our once proud language has languished into a malaise of linguistic simplicity.

We have besmirched some great words to the point that they are no longer usable. I went to high school with a young lady named Gay Lou B..., when she introduced herself people said "nice to meet you" today they say "that's more than we needed to know!" My friends in high school were indeed "queer" except for me they were the best of the best, the top of the class in grades and leadership, yes we were strange, odd, and different! I stood out for my spelling problems. Today it takes a paragraph to explain who we were, without being derogatory.

I read a post by a respected friend and the comments with it regarding "sales, selling, salesmanship!" Personally, I'd be proud to have a real estate or mortgage office with any or all of these great salesmen, but I'm disturbed by how they reacted.

"Don't sell me anything."
"As to the salesmanship, I can't stand it in any form."
(A direct response to the remark above.) "I share your sentiments on this exactly." "I hate thinking of myself as being in sales"
"Most of the time, I'm like you....rather listen than talk."
"Sales=Service. It's not only the people trying to make money..."
"Anyone trying to influence or persuade others is in sales.
Parents, politicians, priests, doctors, social workers...."
"My last job was in sales support for the most fabulous salesperson in the world (not real estate). He always told me sales wasn't selling, sales was building relationships."

I'm proud to be a salesman and I'm proud to know these people, but still if you contemplate it this is an eclectic and queer reaction to the profession they all share and excel at!

Bill

William J Archambault Jr

The Real Estate Investment Institute

Bill

William J Archambault Jr

The Real Estate Investment Institute

wja@reii.org 832-259-7078 or 702-516-1569

Back Cover One House At A Time

From my past: GRI 1975, FLI 1974, Catalyst from a client 1974 an agent that makes things happen, REII, The Real Estate Investment Institute 1995.

©William J Archambault Jr ©The Real Estate Investment Institute ©REII

Posted by William J Archambault Jr on 05/05/2008 04:56 PM

Comments (13)

sales, selling, salesmanship, reii, queer, gay, connotation, devolution, evolution, william j archambault jr

Originally posted at: The Real Estate Sage at The Real Estate Investment Institute - REII: The Tragedy Of Connotation / My Queer Friends

Post is included in group: All About Mortgages/Mortgage Networking
Post is included in group: Silent Majority
Post is included in group: Art of Professional Salesmanship
Post is included in group: The Ninety-ninth Percentile

13 Comments on The Tragedy Of Connotation / My Queer Friends

MAY

2008

Bill,

I really don't think it's that people are ashamed of being Salesmen but they are embarrased by the "image" many people have of salesmen.

Many Realtors think of themselves as more of a Matchmaker....bringing people of like interests, needs and wants together in an agreement. It sounds a lot more romantic don't you think?

Just a little re-defining!

(very thought provoking)

Bill, You old salesman you!!! I'm waiting for the PC police to swoop down on your post for writing "queer"!! Hey at least your not a Brit or you could be going outside to have a "fag"! Now that one will really get you in trouble.

You are right about the salesman thing. I am a salesman but do steer clear of the word at times. I guess I just need to embrace it.

Joan,

I agree I don't think they are ashamed of what they do, just the denotation, the negative image of salesmen. The fact that no progress has ever been made without salesmen to promote it is forgotten!

"Matchmaker....bringing people of like interests, needs and wants together in an agreement" I love it! Most of my cards over the years, have refered to me as "Real Estate Catalyst" or Mortgage Catalyst" because I am the agent that makes things happen.

Thank you, thought provoking was what I intended!

Bill

Bryant,

About that "OLD" I've only got 9 years on you!

I've never used the term "salesman" ether, but if in an emergency someone ask "Is there a salesman in the house" I'd get to my old decrepit feet!

Since you brought it up. how's Billie's battle with the "fags" going?

Bill

Sir William...

I embrace the fact that I am able to say I've been a salesperson for 30 years.

I don't care what others think about that. Once someone meets me it's obvious I sell for a living.

I am a little surprised that folks don't embrace something that can be so defining.

Being in sales has made me who I am today.

Now as for BB...Sometimes I just have to wonder what's going on in that head of his :)

As for me...

Well...I am fighting the good fight and staying away from the fags :)

Thanks for asking and thanks for caring enough to even ask that question :)

TLW...ROAR!

TLW,

A lot of us do care!

Keep up the fight!

Bill

"I never thought that I would be a sales person of any kind, but I was tad ignorant in that I guess. Heck, I don't care what you do....if you do it for money, you're in Sales. And that's fine. That's our culture, our system, our imperfect world. While I've gathered and learned about those that are more financially successful than most, some of the methods just aren't my cup of tea. To me, sales is like Life & Sex, it comes from the hip."

And from Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary is the following...

Main Entry:

¹eclec·tic

Pronunciation:

\e-ˈklek-tik, i-\

Function:

adjective

Etymology:

Greek eklektikos, from eklegein to select, from ex- out + legein to gather - more at legend

Date:

1683

1: selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles2: composed of elements drawn from various sources; also : heterogeneous - eclec·ti·cal·ly \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

I too am proud to be me, 'salesman' and all. I also share 'her' sentiments in that she 'sold' me some time back....on her.

And as far as 'fags'....I'm still smoking them:-)

Jason,

I know you don't like "Latin" I didn't think about "Greek"! Sorry. I should have included:

"eclectic >adjective deriving ideas or style from a broad and varied range of sources. >noun an eclectic person.
-DERIVATIVES eclectically >adverb eclecticism >noun.
-ORIGIN Greek eklektikos, from eklegein 'pick out'."

You should be proud of yourself. Many of us are proud of you and proud to know you. The more we know of her the more we like her too.

Regarding the "F s" you should read Missing In Action In The Rain...Who's Got A Smoke?...ROAR! Before you hurt a lot of people and her!

I thought my title alone rated a "feature" then Bryan added "f g"! I excepted two stars! Where are the feature gods anyway?

Bill

I'm ok with salesman, just don't call me dude.

Sir Salesman,

I don't "dude" no "dude" with a gun! Sir!

Bill

Lol, not sure where the 'Feature' Gods are.

As far as the post 'Roaring', I think I've read that before but will re-visit in case I'm mistaken. It's not a good habit by any means, just a vice I currently have that can't be rationalized.

And for the record, I like the Latin language a whole bunch. I wish I would of paid more attention in High School and had more of a desire once I reached College. Then again, it's never too late to educate.

'chokecherry' is my graphic....who is behind that curtain these days anyhow?

MAY

2008

Been selling from cradle, and most likely to grave. And dan proud of it too! I always thought theres a little sales person inside most everyone. Even accountants and actuaries. As for this whole PC thing with our language - way out of control! Any post that uses the word "besmirched" is high quality in my book. Nicely done!

Scott,

Thank you!

I agree I said as much in: Shut- Up And Start Making Money / Every One Is A Salesman I said Everyone is a salesman, some are just better than others. I write about real estate investment, but salesmanship is a lesson in life!

I repeated it in my pod-cast at: 4/10/2008 11:30 AM

I believe, I really believe! But Scott, "actuaries?" "Actuaries," make even me question my faith!

Bill

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