What does "semi" actually mean?

Just at the halfway point of the year, a word creeps into our vocabulary that couldn't be more fitting: semi. The current state of the industry? Semi. The work of industry colleagues at juries? Semi. The juniors' proposals for the next pitch? Semi! It's mainly the young people in the industry who have brought the word into circulation. When the old-timers talk about their long-gone exploits, Generation Z doesn't even roll its eyes, but looks out into the world, perplexed. What are they talking about? They find it semi-funny or semi-interesting. The prefix "semi", which as a determiner originally weakens or halves adjectives or nouns, has long since taken on a life of its own. Presumably because, without a base word, it leaves open what exactly it means. Neither outstanding nor bad. Neither innovative nor oldschool. Simply semi. It sounds more positive than "so-so" or "okay" and more engaging than "interesting", but above all much more motivating. Which brings us to the topic of Generation Z. While the "old ones" - meaning Boomers and Millennials - are used to commenting on current events from an intellectual semi-distance, Gen Zers always go all-in.

Basic motivation (self-)satisfaction

This new generation is now hitting the job market full force. In the agencies and with clients. They motivate themselves from a seemingly endless reservoir of self-confidence and presentation skills. That's why a lot of things are "semi": whether good or bad, the main thing is that it's right for you and positive. Old management principles no longer apply. Old evaluation schemes even less so. When managers are desperate to invite Generation Z experts to workshops, they usually do so out of a mixture of great perplexity and forced curiosity. If you then ask "So, how was the workshop?", the answer has recently been "semi". This is because they have not only learned a new word, but also experienced a feeling that could not be described more accurately than "semi". On the one hand, it's the enthusiasm about this incredible energy and motivation that you get from Gen-Zler:innen, and on the other, the skepticism about their self-satisfaction. "Well, it's not that innovative", is what millennials and boomers with a "semi" usually say, shrugging their shoulders and being self-protective.

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* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.