JargonWatch: quote mill

Occasionally on Workbench, I document new jargon as it appears, hoping to offer something to the public record if the authorship ever comes into question later.

It's my small contribution to the wonderfully geeky field of etymology. I cloned the feature from the Jargon Scout feature in the late, lamented Tasty Bits from the Technology Front newsletter.

Today's Rob Enderle item features a nice bit of jargon: quote mill. Dave Winer appears to have coined it to describe Enderle on Feb. 28, 2002, and the meaning is pretty clear from its first use:

Rob Enderle of Giga Group [is] someone I think of as a quote mill, happy to give you a line about anything, including things he knows nothing about. ... I see a quote from him I get the message. The reporter is out of ideas and has decided to cut corners.

Jargon · 2003/06/20 · 1 COMMENT · Link

Comments

Even the most diligent reporter has a 'quote mill'. It's kissing cousin to 'looming deadline' and 'tard editor', which is also, of course, an oxymoron.

#1 · Bill W · 2003/06/23