Indebted to the lovely Radio4 people again, for bringing me to a form of the debtWord I’d never had come across (unearthed, perhaps. It is the preserve {lol} after all, of Archeologists.)

Words this useful don’t come along too often, as debitage is the debris left behind by an activity of whose focus is now absent.

Fr’example, imagine yourself 4000 years ago, sat on a hillside (perhaps overlooking a river valley, contemplating where the next meal was coming from.) 

Absentmindedly chipping away (knapping. As opposed to napping) at a flint to make the arrowhead that might help provide dinner.

The flakes of stone left all around? Yep, debitage. 

What results in the act of reduction.

It’s a wonder that business that like to tie themselves into lexical knots - say to avoid having to ‘make redundancies’ by talking about rightsizing and becoming more efficient - haven’t cottoned on that they’re in currently inviting desker’s to discuss their upcoming debitage.

Sounds rather sophisticated. A dance, perhaps with tea or something sparking. Like a debutante’s coming out - except you’ll be leaving rather than arriving on the scene. 

When you look around it’s a word that could apply to so many design-based activities as well.

All those scraps just off the Illustrator (other drawing tools are available) artboard? 

Now you can ask the CD if, having slaughtered all your other concepts, they might care to review your debitage. 

Would make for a talk-worth subject line in the meetingCalender.

Perhaps you’ve been busy cutting up a bloated series of brand manuals to try and make some sense of the client’s observation ‘oh, just follow the guidelines’?

You’re simply following a time-worn pattern, as old as the stones; to make a shape that can fit in you hand and work as the tool you need.

Next time you’re sat at a desk wondering how you became so disconnected from the actual craft (or anything), take some comfort that, if not literally, you hammering away at the problem to find a good fit is still something people do best. 

People like you who find in words (or type or spreadsheets or code) a way to make sense of the world.

I am, as the title says…