THE ENGINEER’S DICTIONARY

· MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH - Back to the drawing board.
· DEVELOPED AFTER YEARS OF INTENSIVE RESEARCH - It was discovered by accident.
· PROJECT SLIGHTLY BEHIND ORIGINAL SCHEDULE DUE TO UNFORSEEN DIFFICULTIES - We are working on something else.
· THE DESIGNS ARE WELL WITHIN ALLOWABLE LIMITS - We just made it, stretching a point or two.
· CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS BELIEVED ASSURED - We are so far behind schedule that the customer was happy to get anything at all from us.
· CLOSE PROJECT COORDINATION - We should have asked someone else; or, let’s spread the responsibility for this.
· THE DESIGN WILL BE FINALIZED IN THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD - We haven’t started this job yet, but we’ve got to say something.
· A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES ARE BEING TRIED - We don’t know where we’re going, but we’re moving.
· TEST RESULTS WERE EXTREMELY GRATIFYING - It works, and are we surprised!
· EXTENSIVE EFFORT IS BEING APPLIED ON A FRESH APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM - We just hired three new guys; we’ll let them kick it around for a while.
· PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL TESTS ARE INCONCLUSIVE - The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch.
· THE ENTIRE CONCEPT WILL HAVE TO BE ABANDONED - The only guy who understood the thing quit.
· MODIFICATIONS ARE UNDERWAY TO CORRECT CERTAIN MINOR DIFFICULTIES - We threw the whole thing out and are starting from scratch.