What Planners mean when they say . . .

What the Planners say	What the Planners mean	What the Developer hears / understands
“I like it.”	I like it.	They like it.
“Well done!”	Well done!	We’re done!
“I wish more projects had this feel.”	“I wish more projects had this feel.”	They like it so much maybe they’ll give us more.
“Lets review this”	I don’t like it.	It’s taken their breath away!
“Does this meet the regulations?”	Can we kill it through technicalities?	We’re OK, it meets the regulations...I think
“Well...?”	We don’t like it, do we?	They have some minor questions.
“What do you think?”	You don’t like it either, do you?	We’re in trouble, they’re thinking.
“I have some concerns.”	I don’t like it.	Well, Planners are only one vote!
“It’s... too...”	I don’t think I could ever like it.	Maybe we overdid the gargoyles.
“Is the applicant here?”	Can we talk, or do we have to be diplomatic?	No! After spending all of this energy, to say nothing or a King’s ransom in fees, the applicant has decided to go to the racetrack where the odds are better.
“Have you tried...?”	This doesn’t work.	There’s not enough in the budget to do it once, let alone twice.
“Let’s look at the landscape plan.”	Maybe we can just hide it.	There goes the landscape budget!
“That’s an...‘ interesting’ approach.	What planet did this come from?	They like it.
“Lets get other staff involved.”	Maybe the other staff can tell you what we’ve been unable to communicate.	Who do they think got us into this mess? There goes another month.
“It’s too...er...googie.”	There’s no way I can teach them what’s good design, so I’ll get technical.	He doesn’t like the gargoyles.
“Yes, we’ve heard the argument that planners breed design mediocrity.”	We’d be happy if this was even mediocre.	They know we’re going to blame this “camel” on them.