FUNDAMENTALS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

COURSE GLOSSARY
abhors:

dislikes or rejects something very strongly.

abound:

exist in great numbers.

acceptance level:

that which is acceptable, which the person desires or the degree of a person’s willingness to accept something.

acknowledge:

give (someone) an acknowledgment. See also acknowledgment.

acknowledgment:

something said or done to inform another that his statement or action has been noted, understood and received.

Backfire 8:

a made-up name for a car.

battle cruiser:

a heavily armed warship but with lighter armor, fewer guns, greater maneuverability and a faster speed than a battleship, which is the largest type of warship carrying the heaviest armor.

Beanos:

a made-up name.

button:

in surveying, the subject, phrase or concept that is real to the majority of persons in a group and which can be used to get a response and gain agreement. The term comes from the early 1900s expression “press the button” which means, in a figurative sense, “to perform an action that automatically brings about the required state of affairs.”

caves in:

collapses. A US Western term which symbolized mental or physical collapse as like being at the bottom of a mine shaft or in a tunnel when the supports collapsed and left the person under tons of debris.

charlady:

a woman employed to clean a house or office.

CIA:

Central Intelligence Agency, a major United States Government agency that gathers information (intelligence) about foreign governments and certain nongovernmental groups, including those that engage in terrorism or organized crime. It also attempts to secretly influence events in other countries.

circus exaggeration:

exaggeration (a statement or statements that something is better, bigger, etc., than is true) resembling the publicity for a circus, a large public entertainment featuring acts of skill and daring, feats of strength, trained animals, etc., all performed simultaneously. Large circuses of the nineteenth century often used promotion that involved exaggeration in order to attract large audiences.

Colosseum:

a large oval, roofless building in Rome which has a central open space surrounded by tiers of seats. It was built in the first century a.d., and was used by the ancient Romans for public entertainment, such as gladiator combat and contests between men and beasts.

communication line:

the route along which a communication travels from one person to another.

courtliness:

the state or condition of being courtly, showing great delicacy and refinement in behavior.

covert:

concealed, hidden or disguised; not openly practiced or shown.

decorum:

fitting or proper behavior, what is in accordance with good breeding; the avoidance of anything offensive in manner.

Dillinger:

John Dillinger (1902–1934), an infamous American bank robber, murderer and two-time prison escapee who was declared “public enemy number one” in 1933 for his role in numerous bank robberies and murders, including that of a police officer, performed by himself and members of a gang he organized.

dominion:

ability or power of controlling something.

elicit:

draw out, cause or produce something as a reaction or response.

etiquette:

the formal rules for polite behavior in society or in a particular group.

fruitless:

producing no effect or result; useless.

halfway home:

partway to the intended goal or accomplishment one has set out to achieve.

heroes in blue:

a reference to the police, alluding to the blue uniforms many police forces wear.

Hitler:

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), German political leader of the twentieth century who dreamed of creating a master race that would rule for a thousand years as the third German Empire. Taking over rule of Germany by force in 1933 as a dictator, he began World War II (1939–1945), subjecting much of Europe to his domination and murdering millions of Jews and others considered “inferior.” He committed suicide in 1945 when Germany’s defeat was imminent.

intercourse:

communication or exchanges between people or groups, especially conversation or social activity.

International Bank:

an agency of the United Nations that loans money to member nations and private companies, primarily for development projects, such as irrigation, education and housing. Also called World Bank.

KGB:

abbreviation for Komitet Gosudarstvennoj Bezopasnosti (Russian for “Committee for State Security”), the former Soviet Union’s secret police, espionage and security agency. Its responsibilities included covert intelligence operations, the protection of Soviet political leaders and border patrol (to keep intruders out and citizens in).

lackey:

a servant of low rank.

lay open to:

expose to or leave without adequate protection from danger or harm.

libel:

the action of publishing false and malicious statements about someone.

like to have:

was on the verge of or came close to (doing something); nearly; almost.

Mickey Mouse:

characteristic of or resembling the mouse-like character created in animated cartoons by Walt Disney (1901–1966), sometimes with the idea of being childish or of having relatively little value or importance.

Parliament:

the lawmaking body of various countries, including England, made up of elected and sometimes nonelected representatives.

peril, at your:

accepting the responsibility or risks of whatever consequences may result, especially from one’s actions in disregarding or disobeying someone or something, a phrase used especially in warnings or commands.

polish:

refinement, especially of style, that is the mark of expertise or experience.

presupposes:

believes or assumes beforehand or in advance; expects.

privilege:

a special right granted to a particular group that frees them from having to comply with certain rules or restrictions. Press privilege is the legal right of reporters and editors to refuse to name in a court of law the identities of their sources of information.

ratio:

the corresponding relationship between two or more things; proportional relation. A ratio is sometimes expressed as a number or amount in relationship to another number or amount. For example, if a person spends ten hours inside and one hour outside, the ratio is 10:1 or ten to one.

rebuttal:

a statement that contradicts another statement and proves it to be false or in error.

refinement:

1. the process of improving something and making it more effective by removing what is considered imperfect while inserting better elements. 2. elegance of feeling, taste, manners, language, etc.

ritual:

a set of fixed actions and sometimes words performed regularly, especially as part of a religious ceremony or social custom.

row:

a noisy quarrel, dispute or disturbance.

salted with:

scattered or interspersed with something.

scathing:

bitterly severe.

Scientology:

Scientology is a practical religion dealing with the study of knowledge, which through application of its technology can bring about desirable changes in the conditions of life. It was developed over a third of a century by L. Ron Hubbard. The term Scientology is taken from the Latin word scio (knowing, in the fullest meaning of the word) and the Greek word logos (study of). Scientology is further defined as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life.

Scotch to the core:

extremely careful not to spend money wastefully. Scotch, as used here, means thrifty and economical, in reference to qualities that are sometimes attributed to Scottish people. To the core (the central, innermost part of something) means completely; as much as possible.

share(s):

any of the equal, usually small, parts into which a company’s stock is divided. Stock means ownership in a corporation or company, which entitles the buyer to share in the ownership of the company and usually results in money paid to shareholders, voting rights, etc.

slander:

a false and intentionally harmful statement that damages somebody’s reputation.

Stalin:

Joseph Stalin (1879–1953), premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1953, who ruled by terror, allowing no one to oppose his decisions and under whom millions were executed or sent to labor camps.

stock in trade:

any resources, practices or devices characteristically employed by a given person or group.

stocks:

a wooden frame in which, in former times, an offender was secured by the hands and feet or head and hands, and left in public to be ridiculed or abused.

tabulate:

to put (facts, statistics, etc.) in a table or columns; arrange systematically.

technology:

the methods of application of an art or science as opposed to mere knowledge of the science or art itself. In Scientology, the term technology refers to the methods of application of Scientology principles to improve the functions of the mind and rehabilitate the potentials of the spirit, developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

ulterior:

beyond what is expressed; hidden; underlying. An ulterior motive is a hidden, underlying motive, usually a selfish or dishonorable one.

whole cloth:

created entirely and completely fresh, without connection to anything done or that may have gone before. In the fifteenth century whole cloth referred to a piece of cloth that ran the whole length of a loom, an apparatus used for weaving fabrics. An item made of such was considered superior to one made of different pieces of cloth sewn together.

wits and tongue around, wrap (one’s):

learn what something is and learn how to pronounce it. Wrap one’s wits around something means to grasp something using one’s mental faculties or intellectual powers; wrap one’s tongue around something means to speak or pronounce something correctly.