A while ago it was discovered that investment bank Goldman Sachs refers to unsophisticated, non-professional, retail investors as “muppets” and was deploying massive computing power to trade against them.

“Muppet” is an example of a business language shortcut: one word that summarises a pretty complex concept or customer segment. Short cuts can make internal communication in a company very efficient. Everyone knows exactly what is being discussed without having to resort to long descriptions that change from presentation to presentation.

To the outsider though, they have a different meaning. Many people complain about “buzzwords”, especially when shortcuts that don’t mean anything leak into external communication. Or worse, as in the case of Goldman Sachs, you end up offending a lot of people.

Young kids also find out that is extremely hard to change back nicknames into a more grown up name when you get older. The same is true for business shortcuts. Better choose them wisely at the beginning, because they might just get a wider audience than that first conference room meeting.

With respect to “muppets”. Yes, amateur investors might not understand the interest rate climate, yield curves, market overhang, and inflation risk. They make mistakes, but they could also have a hunch that that weird flat phone with a touch screen could end up being a really desirable product that will change people’s lives 10 years from now. An algorithm powered by a super computer probably would not make that call. Muppets are a nuanced segment with many sides to take in to consideration. Better pick a better word.

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