Definition

A desktop card-filing device that stores contact information on rotatable cards, allowing quick manual lookup of phone numbers, addresses, and notes. It was the standard personal address book for professionals before digital contact management.

Example Usage

My father kept his Rolodex on his desk at work; it held hundreds of business contacts he had built over decades.

Origin

Invented in 1958 by Arnold Feinberg and Hildaur Neilson, the name is a portmanteau of 'rolling' and 'index.'

Fun Fact

The term 'Rolodex' became so iconic that it was nearly trademarked as the generic term for contact management, similar to how 'kleenex' is used for tissues.

Source: Definition backfill (hailey)

Related Terms

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iso

The prefix that makes everything sound more official and standardized, as in ISO certifications that prove your company follows internationally agreed-upon rules. Also tech slang for 'isolation' or disk image files. Basically, it's shorthand for 'we're doing this by the book (the international book).'

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effective

Actually doing what it's supposed to do, rather than just looking good in PowerPoint. An effective strategy produces real results; an effective employee delivers measurable value without requiring constant supervision.

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circle the wagons

Adopting a defensive posture against external threats, inspired by pioneers who probably didn't actually do this but makes corporate defensiveness sound frontier-tough.

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solutions

Corporate buzzword for "products" or "services" that makes everything sound innovative and strategic. Tech companies don't sell software anymore; they provide "enterprise solutions" that "solve business challenges." It's the verbal equivalent of putting racing stripes on a minivan—same thing, but now it sounds fast and important.

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efficiency

The corporate obsession with doing more work with fewer resources, usually measured in percentages that sound impressive in PowerPoint presentations but feel dystopian to actual workers. It's the ratio of useful output to total input, which management loves to optimize until morale becomes the primary input being minimized. The metric that spawned a thousand automation projects and zero thank-you notes.

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ButR

Business-to-Robot, the emerging field of companies selling products and services directly to AI agents and automated systems rather than humans. Because why market to carbon-based life forms when silicon is more profitable?

💼 Corporate / Business

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