Farewell, journo lingo

"For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice." - T.S. Eliot

I REMEMBER stepping into The Business Times newsroom six years ago, wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into: an English Literature major, allergic to numbers, going into financial journalism. But as I learned within my first week, it wasn't so much the economics jargon that I'd have to get used to quickly; it was actually the journalism lingo that would throw me for a loop.

For example, while "NODX" sounded like a vaccine for sickly newborns, once I realised what the acronym stood for - non-oil domestic exports - I could sort of infer what that meant. But when my editor came by to ask for my slug, I gave him such a stupefied look I'm convinced he regretted his hiring decision. (Don't worry, "slug" is explained below.)