A fine festuche
Years ago, I was a communications manager for IBM. There was one of us at every plant and every division hq making about 50 of us total around the United States. We were a kind of club. One member of the club had this theory about word usage. He allowed as how if you made up a good enough word and got three people to use it, within a year it would get back to from a fairly untraceable source. I'm obviously forgetting the details of the deal but I do remember the word that proved his theory.
Festuche. It's pronounced fess-toosch (accent on the second syllable). A festuche is a brohaha or a big deal or a tado. "He forgot to get the approval and pretty soon we had a major festuche." or "She's such a drama queen. She could make any staff meeting into a real festuche."
It's a great word and one that doesn't have much competition. When something is a real festuche, the other options for describing it just do not measure up.
About two years after this guy introduced festuche at a bar in White Plains, NY (a few of us gathered to discuss the day long meeting we had just been subject to), the head of communications at IBM stood before a gathering of about 300 IBMers and urged us not to make 'a festuche out of today's announcement'. It was a major coup and one that called for a festuche of a celebration.
This morning I had to use the word with a guy here at work. He allowed as how he had never heard the word before and thought it was a great word and planned to use it a lot. Maybe we'll see a revival?
Edited on September 7, 2006:
I'm so sorry I can't remember the name of the guy who first proposed festuche. He should get the credit. I can remember that it was first proposed in that bar in White Plains over the winter of 1986/87. It was 1989 when Bert (or Burt - that's all I got left of the executive's name) used it in the big meeting - this time in Somers, NY.
Edited on May 9, 2012:
Over the years this entry has attracted a fair amount of spammers. Lately the traffic has increased substantially, so I'm screening them from now on. I'll be fast, I promise and if you have something to add - that's not a Nigerian plea for money, or links to buy fake Coach bags - I'll add it right away. Nigerians selling fake Coach bags, don't bother. Thx. S.
Festuche. It's pronounced fess-toosch (accent on the second syllable). A festuche is a brohaha or a big deal or a tado. "He forgot to get the approval and pretty soon we had a major festuche." or "She's such a drama queen. She could make any staff meeting into a real festuche."
It's a great word and one that doesn't have much competition. When something is a real festuche, the other options for describing it just do not measure up.
About two years after this guy introduced festuche at a bar in White Plains, NY (a few of us gathered to discuss the day long meeting we had just been subject to), the head of communications at IBM stood before a gathering of about 300 IBMers and urged us not to make 'a festuche out of today's announcement'. It was a major coup and one that called for a festuche of a celebration.
This morning I had to use the word with a guy here at work. He allowed as how he had never heard the word before and thought it was a great word and planned to use it a lot. Maybe we'll see a revival?
Edited on September 7, 2006:
I'm so sorry I can't remember the name of the guy who first proposed festuche. He should get the credit. I can remember that it was first proposed in that bar in White Plains over the winter of 1986/87. It was 1989 when Bert (or Burt - that's all I got left of the executive's name) used it in the big meeting - this time in Somers, NY.
Edited on May 9, 2012:
Over the years this entry has attracted a fair amount of spammers. Lately the traffic has increased substantially, so I'm screening them from now on. I'll be fast, I promise and if you have something to add - that's not a Nigerian plea for money, or links to buy fake Coach bags - I'll add it right away. Nigerians selling fake Coach bags, don't bother. Thx. S.