I had a meeting with my manager's manager today. Managers' managers at Microsoft like to have a chat with their direct reports' direct reports occasionally to make sure they're happy there, that everything is going to plan and to give them a chance to tell them anything they might not want to tell their managers directly.
(By the way, those of you who don't know where to put your apostrophies, or who get the words "their", "they're" and "there" mixed up might want to study the previous paragraph in detail and bookmark this post for future reference. You know who you are.)
Anyway, most of said meeting went very well - I talked about some of the features that I thought it was important that we implement, and justified these with my theories on how the uses of Pocket PCs and Smartphones will change in the future. However, at one point in the conversation I did a terrible thing - a thing of which I am greatly ashamed. I used the word "paradigm". I couldn't help it. Words were coming out of my mouth, and as the thought formed and turned into a sentence I could see that word coming but could do nothing to stop it. The good, decent part of my brain was screaming "find a synomym, quick, you moron" but I couldn't think of one before it was too late and the word was out there in the air like a particularly malodorous flatulation.
Please comment with your suggestions on how I should atone for this atrocity.
I don't know that you can atone, but you might "fan it away" by turning the discussion to the relative and appropriate uses of their”, “they’re” and “there”.