The real meaning of DTC

While working with a young team, you have to be aware of their popular-speak. Don't try to adopt it. But be aware of it.

For the past few years, I have been working with teams which is full of young people. Often, the team members are younger to me by more than a decade. Sometimes, I flinch when I hear their jargon. In other instances, it brings a smile to my lips. This ignorance can also lead to embarrassments of epic proportion like what happened at my current workplace.

In the current engagement, the customer can come up with random request that results in update of data set in the production system. According to the orgnizational nomenclature, these type of requests are classified as Demande de Travaux Client. Over the period of time, it has been abbreviated to DTC. But whenever we approach the customer with such a demand, the customer becomes angry. As these requests cost them money, we assumed it to be the reason behind the anger. But it was not so.

In SMS-speak popularized by the young generation, DTC is the abbreviation for Dans Ton Cul. According to my friend’s careful and guarded translation, it means “in your backside”. After hearing the popular meaning for this abbreviation, I realize why my customer is angry everytime I ask for DTC. No matter how polite I am, this is neither a pleasant nor an agreeable request.

Tags: Musings,French Lessons,Request,Customer