Language and Occupation Theories

Howard Giles - Accommodation Theory (1973)

What?
He was interested in why we change the way we speak to accommodate other people.
Two ways in which accommodation can occur in conversation is through convergence and divergence.

Convergence
This is where the speaker adapts their language to resemble the language of those who they're talking to. For example, using jargon with a boss/colleague or simplifying language to a colleague of a lower position. This is usually because of underlying psychological motivations of wanting to be approved of and/or liked by those around you.

Divergence
This is where a speaker adapts their speech in order to sound less like the person they are talking to. It is believed that this is used because of the speakers disapproval of the addressee and that it is a way to distinguish themselves as different from them.

Drew and Heritage - Inferential Frameworks (1993)

What?
An inferential framework is where knowledge is built up over time and used in order to understand meanings that are implicit. Drew and Heritage suggested that members of a discourse community will share the same inferential frameworks (inferences) to make it easier to communicate swiftly. They also believe that, in workplace conversations, there is always somebody with more authority and/or knowledge who will have more control and power in conversation.

John Swales - Discourse Community (2011)

What?
Swales defined a discourse community as having members who share a common set of goals. He believed that people working in the same discourse community used specialised lexis specific to that occupation; they often share the same goals and use language to achieve those goals. One must possess a required level of knowledge and skill to be considered eligible to join the community.

Almut Koester - Phatic talk and Banter (2004)

What?
Koester studied how employees interact within the workplace. He found that 'banter is needed in the workplace', as it calms the atmosphere and makes customers feel more welcomed. He also decided that phatic talk (small talk) is important as workers need to establish relationships and have interactions that are not just about work related topics. Overall, he was a strong believer that being sociable in the workplace is essential for effective working as employees are able to support one another.

Examples of Office Jargon - Wider Reading
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/oct/22/a-z-modern-office-jargon

Backfill - Meaning a replacement, or to replace somebody in the office. To me, it sounds like the person who's being 'back-filled' is being made out to seem irrelevant. 'Back' makes me picture them being shoved to the back of the office, and 'fill' makes me imagine how easily replaceable they are. Kind of sounds like what a dentist would call a filling in the back section of the mouth.

Close of Play - A boss may ask for something to be completed by 'close of play', or in standard English, 'the end of the day'. This is a horrible measurement of time as the boss may just swan off at 3pm whilst the actual hardworking people in the office may have to stay until 8pm. Also a little pathetic how they're trying to make a job sound fun.

Heads up - To give somebody a pre-warning; making somebody aware of something. I actually like this phrase as it is used a lot by my family. Also, it has a cool origin story. In the earth 20th century, 'heads up' would be said to the members of your crew to pay attention because something potentially dangerous is about to happen. It had a more literal meaning back then though; the crew would literally raise their heads to look out for danger.