Comment (regarding "Manager as buffer?" Advice Line, 5/29/2007):"buffer" is a euphemism for "linebacker."And linebacker is an analogy for: hang on, I'll look it up in Google. Ah, 'Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately five to seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen.' I'll understand in a second, just look up scrimmage, linemen ad infinitum.Ok, thi Comment (regarding “Manager as buffer?” Advice Line, 5/29/2007):“buffer” is a euphemism for “linebacker.”And linebacker is an analogy for: hang on, I’ll look it up in Google. Ah, ‘Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately five to seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen.’ I’ll understand in a second, just look up scrimmage, linemen ad infinitum. Ok, this is an American column written for Americans. It is deliberately obfuscated to preclude ‘foreign’ comprehension. I work for the world’s largest audio company which happens to be American, but that company won’t benefit from my understanding of your wise words. I’ve commented before on your xenophobia and I’ll stop commenting after this one. I’ll just accept that you have chosen your audience and I’m not in the crew.– Commenter Bob’s reply: Dear me … xenophobia? You’re correct that I write in colloquial American English, as did Mark Twain (for shame!). I just finished a pair of novels by Tom Holt (highly recommended). I’ve also enjoyed work by Douglas Adams. Both employed British slang extensively. Shame on them, I guess … the pillocks. As does every other writer in a globalized age, I have to find the right balance between universal expression, which is inevitably bland, and livelier approaches to explication, which generally require more work on the part of readers who lie outside my core audience. But since “right balance” is different for each reader, for everyone I please, I’ll annoy another. Sorry to hear you’re on the annoyed side of the equation. – Bob Powered by ScribeFire. Technology Industry