Social Engineer Challenge 8 “ZIGIG”

My task of this week was to make up new word. See how many I can get to use it, and or to hear it without asking what it means.

-Since at work I am the person to go to when any translation is needed with Arabic dialects or French, I thought that I can make up a word in French, and then I remembered that there is another coworker who speaks that language so I decided to go for Arabic. We have some wired words that are used at work like "loop in" which means include someone in a conversation or email but what really happens is when you get looped in an email that probably means you will get more work to do. I made up a word that I called "Zigig" and I claimed that this is the Arabic translation of loop in. I went to help a coworker with a computer issue while she was talking with another coworker, I started the conversation joking about the word loop in and I said that it's Arabic translation sounds funny, they ask what was it and I said "Zigig", they try to pronounce it and I help them to get the pronunciation right as I do usually, they said that the will use it in the future when emailing me as a joke I left the room and I heard them inside still practicing it. I told my office mate (he hates the world loop in) that I forgot to tell him the Arabic translation of his favorite word, he knew I was taking about loop in, and said what is it and I told him "Zigig" he thought it was funny. We went later to another coworker's office and we were talking and I remember my task, I asked him to guess what is the translation of loop in, he goes no idea and I said "Zigig" he start repeating it many time in a wired way it was pretty funny, I said why you say it in a funny way then my office mate in asked me "it's actually "Zigig" right?", trying to get the pronunciation right. Next day I went to the front office manager, we were talking about random things and I say that Zigig is loop in since she wants to learn Arabic she ask me for the spelling of it, good thing that I had that part figure out, wrote it down and said that she will use it, I also told another coworker who looked confused a little. Later I meet another coworker and I told him Zigig, he said what is that, I said ask the front office manager, he went to see her and asked what is it, she looked at her book and explained to him proudly.

 Today was my last day before this task wills expire, so I tried to push it as far as possible. I made a not and I wrote on it ZIGIG and I went DD, and I ordered my coffee and I showed the cashier the note and I said what is that, she said I don’t know, I said what does it say, she said ZIIIIIGIIIIIG, I start laughing, she ask me if it was mine I said no I found it in the store. I went to pick up my sandwich in the second station and put the cart in the counter and when the person brought me my sandwich I said what is this I found it there, she said Zigig what a weird word I never heard that.

Later that day I went to help another coworker who was out sick last week, we were in her office with another person, I looked at him and I said Zigig, he was what the comic book, I said what there is a comic book called Zigig ? he was I think so but why did you say that?, I told him the same story and he was amazed, he love it and said that he will definitely start using it beside loop in, he said we need to spread this in the whole organization and this will set us apart from author organizations that use loop in, first I thought he was joking, then I asked him again later he said no I am very serious I want to send an email an purposefully exclude someone, than add him to the email and say I just Zigig you, that will be a good way to spread it. That was the reaction I was looking for :).

 

- The total people I told them about Zigig and believed me are: 11

2 people repeated without asking me what it means. (Because I was the one who asked)

4 people used it or wanted to use it.

My strategy worked, I wanted to experiment many ways of doing this task and it seems to work.

I didn’t get any information from this task I took it as a social experiment looking on how people reacted to other language. 

I felt bad to lie to my coworkers, (and Dunkin Donuts workers) they usually believe me and will never think that I will be able to lie to them but I will not deny that I made some cool observations that I never knew before, like the fact that people will automatically assume that their pronunciation is wrong in any foreigner language. I didn’t try to give zigig any specific pronunciation but people kept asking me about it.