Confusion caused by delays in human communication: layman's term word or phrase

Question

I'm looking for a general, non-technical word or phrase to describe a situation where natural delays in the timing and ordering of human communication leads to confusion and misunderstandings.

What I'm talking about is sort of similar to the "Telephone game" but depends on the order and timing of communication, rather than the quality of it.

Text messaging provides an opportunity for this: You send three text messages in a specific order, but due to how texting works, the recipient may get them in a different order than you sent them in. This could cause serious confusion and misunderstandings.

In software and hardware communication, there are ways to perform error checking and error correction to avoid these issues, but human beings are really bad at consistently following the same rules every time, and tend to take shortcuts or make assumptions.

The point is that because of natural delays in communication (email, voicemail, texting, etc) a lot of confusion and misinformation can be generated. There are technical terms for this in software engineering and system analysis, but I'm looking for a word or phrase I can use to describe this situation to laymen.

To clarify, I'm looking for a term that describes a situation where human communication delays and errors lead to an escalation of confusion, chaos, and further misunderstandings.

To clarify even further, I'm not looking for a general term for confusion or a general term for latency or delay. I'm looking for a word or phrase that can be used to quickly explain that a confusing situation has arisen specifically because of inherent delays in both communication and comprehension.

Examples: (Using barnfargle as a substitute for some other word or phrase.)

"Yesterday's meeting was a real barnfargle because Judy read the last email without reading the ones before it."

"Sam called Jerry about Judy's memo but Jerry thought Sam was talking about Judy's OTHER memo from yesterday, so they scheduled a meeting where each attendee thought it was about a separate subject. What a barnfargle that was."

These kinds of situations are quite common in business communication, but also appear when organizing a family get-together, or planning a softball team schedule. They are not specific to any technology, although technology makes more opportunities for them to happen.

The closest thing I've been able to come up with myself is "comedy of errors" but that's not quite it.

There may not be any term for this, but I think there should be.

Answer 1

Snafu ("a situation in which nothing happens as planned and everything goes wrong–Cambridge) does not, of necessity, inherently denote "natural delays in the timing and ordering of human communication"

but

(1) considering its source (the military) and the amount of communication and logistics that are often innate to situations found within the military, the word naturally

"...can be used to quickly explain that a confusing situation has arisen specifically because of inherent delays in both communication and comprehension"

(2) one explanation of the origin of the word refers to actual communication malfunctions. See Researching the real origin of SNAFU

and

(3) it easily replaces barnfargle in both your sentences.

Answer 2

While Paul B's answer is excellent and well documented, the common idiom I've always heard and used is getting their wires crossed.

Answer 3

You can say 'to avoid playing telephone tag'.

This expression 'telephone tag' likens trying to communicate, to playing 'a game of tag'.

It was used in the marketing of a voicemail system that I was promo-ing, when I worked in the telecoms division of a major bank.

I think it will be easily understood by laymen.

😊

Answer 4

When I saw your question, the first thought I had was; that's what we used to call 'playing telephone'. But (in lieu of coining a new phrase) if that's not what you're looking for, may I suggest an even more ancient idiom:

"Tower of Babel"

Literally, when Old-Testament God confounded everyone's speech so they couldn't understand each other anymore.

Used metaphorically for generations (before technology complicated it even more) to describe similar situations.

Answer 5

I doubt any word exists in English which specifically describes the confusion that arises from delays in communication.

The word discombobulation comes to mind. Discombobulate was coined in the early 1800s in humor and means, "to confuse, upset, or throw into disorder," but I imagine it won't fit the bill because it doesn't inherently suggest anything about time.

Although I personally would cast my vote for your barnfargle, I thought perhaps a little play on discombobulation would also be apropos:

Dischronobulation (noun)

1. The asynchronous arrival of time-ordered information.
2. The state of confusion caused by the asynchronous arrival of time-ordered information.

Answer 6

The Dispositio is the system used for the organization of arguments in Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "organization" or "arrangement".

It is the second of five canons of classical rhetoric (the first being inventio, and the remaining being elocutio, memoria, and pronuntiatio) that concern the crafting and delivery of speeches and writing.

The first part of any rhetorical exercise was to discover the proper arguments to use, which was done under the formalized methods of inventio. The next problem facing the orator or writer was to select various arguments and organize them into an effective discourse.

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In classic rhetoric kairos is "a passing instant when an opening appears which must be driven through with force if success is to be achieved."

Kairos was central to the Sophists, who stressed the rhetor's ability to adapt to and take advantage of changing, contingent circumstances. In Panathenaicus, Isocrates writes that educated people are those “who manage well the circumstances which they encounter day by day, and who possess a judgment which is accurate in meeting occasions as they arise and rarely misses the expedient course of action".

Kairos is also very important in Aristotle's scheme of rhetoric. Kairos is, for Aristotle, the time and space context in which the proof will be delivered. Kairos stands alongside other contextual elements of rhetoric: The Audience, which is the psychological and emotional makeup of those who will receive the proof; and To Prepon, which is the style with which the orator clothes the proof.

In Ancient Greece, "kairos" was utilized by both of the two main schools of thought in the field of rhetoric. The competing schools were that of the Sophists, and that of their opposition, led by individuals such as Aristotle and Plato. Sophism approached rhetoric as an art form. Members of the school would travel around Greece teaching citizens about the art of rhetoric and successful discourse.

In his article "Toward a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric", John Poulakos defines rhetoric from a Sophistic perspective as follows: "Rhetoric is the art which seeks to capture in opportune moments that which is appropriate and attempts to suggest that which is possible."

Aristotle and Plato, on the other hand, viewed Sophistic rhetoric as a tool used to manipulate others, and criticized those who taught it.

[Edits welcome. Ancient language and Philosophy are not specialties of mine.]

Answer 7

I just ran into the phrase crossed signals, and it seems to convey better than most words or short phrases the idea of miscommunication leading to confusion or error.

It earliest usage appears to be around the mid- to late 1800s in the railroad and maritime lexicons.

There is no authority in the rules and regulations for what has become technically known among [boat] pilots as "cross-signals"—that is, answering one whistle by two, and two whistles by one."

—Scott's New Coast Pilot for the Lakes. George Scott, 1888

By the 1950s, it is often written as crossed signals and begins appearing in scientific articles:

Here there are effectively two signals to each ear, the "crossed" signals being delayed relative to the "direct" signals ...

– The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America - Volume 31 - Page 982

The author concludes that damage of the postural-motor apparatus may create certain difficulties in the formation of conditioned connections to spatial signals and in the differentiation of the latter (as compared with the reactions to color). The greatest difficulties occurred in the differentiation of the crossed signals.

— The Central nervous system and human behavior: translations from the Russian medical literature collected... p. 297. National Institutes of Health (U.S.)

It generally seems to describe the confusion or errors caused by communication being errant or out of order.

Since the 1960s, it has become a fairly popular way of describing any miscommunication between two or more people or groups, and it always implies that confusion or problems arise with it. The hyphenated noun version, although a century out of use, seems like it might offer a creative way to express what you are looking for, and I think it would be understood by most:

"Yesterday's meeting was a real cross-signal because Judy read the last email without reading the ones before it."

If that's too much of a stretch, then perhaps the longer but slightly more natural-sounding case of crossed signals might suffice.

Answer 8

You might say that the later callers were "playing catch-up".

play catch-up To try to reach the same level of understanding, accomplishment, etc. as others, typically after a late start. I'm sorry, I'm playing catch-up here—how do you know my wife? I just transferred into this class, so now I have to play catch-up with all the material the professor covered in the first few weeks. Thanks to our terrible start, we've been playing catch-up all season. - The Free Dictionary

The phrase carries the idea of someone running ahead and another person trying to reach the first person's position. The problem was identified, you were notified, you fixed the problem. Someone else is has just reacted to step 1 and hasn't yet realised that you're already past step 3. They're playing catch-up.

Here's a published example of the phrase in use:

• Are you playing catch-up? You might be playing with your bills, your job, your kids, your caree. Always trying to stay even or even move a little ahead, but seemingly always running to catch up. - Take Comfort, Too by Denise M. Brown

Answer 9

I like befuddle.

vt: 1) to muddle or stupefy with or as if with drink; 2) confuse, perplex; befuddlement noun [Merriam-Webster's]

Stu befuddled the meeting by bringing the wrong report and then trying to recreate the relevant details from memory.

Sally sat in a state of befuddlement after spilling her coffee, unable to speak other than with expletives.

Answer 10

On reflection, a better way to satisfy OP's desire for a word to replace barnfangle might be either:

Train(-)wreck or (n-car) pile-up as a description of the meeting, and a slightly SerFW alternative to clusterf—

or

in higher-level or "formal" situations, it is much more likely that someone will understate things in a dry fashion, and use a term like misunderstanding or débacle

I can split this into two answers if you'd prefer, but it's already my second :o)

Answer 11

How about confound?

vt: 1a) archaic to bring to ruin : destroy; 1b) baffle, frustrate; ... 5) to throw a person into confusion or perplexity; 6a) to fail to discern differences between: to mix up; 6b) to increase the confusion of [Merriam-Webster's] confounder noun

By way of smudging reports with gravy, and pages congealed together with juice, Sally confounded the workplace with her lunchroom antics.

Bob's ability to perplex others made him the confounder of the group.

Answer 12

"human error" is a widely used word which could serve your purpose at least partially.

Answer 13

There are words in the medical arena that may answer your question, specifically in neurophysiology. I am not a medical professional, but stutters have a commonality with your explanation. Though I totally disagree with your analogy to technology,

The point is that because of natural delays in communication (email, voicemail, texting, etc) a lot of confusion ...

These are not natural delays, they are specific to how the technology is engineered and many instances, what you describe is not what actually happens, but that is a side issue.

The absentminded suffer from communication lapses, the condition has been attributed to..

When suffering from absent-mindedness, people tend to show signs of memory lapse and weak recollection of recently occurring events. This can usually be a result of a variety of other conditions often diagnosed by clinicians such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.

there are also references to memory problems (for an individual) that repeatedly exhibits the symptoms of not absent-mindedness...

if it becomes a chronic problem or starts increasing in incidence it could be a signifier of a memory problem or condition such as Alzheimer's, dementia, or encoding failure.

Also "aphasia" is another term to describe communication lapses, usually caused by stroke. If you are truly trying to exclude medical conditions for the behavior or effect, then you might try something like the terms already listed or perhaps a word like "chaos"

Here is a link to a list of many medical definitions for commincation disordrs... The link

Answer 14

Inconvenience. "Yesterday's meeting was a real [barnfargle] inconvenience because Judy read the last email without reading the ones before it."

"Sam called Jerry about Judy's memo but Jerry thought Sam was talking about Judy's OTHER memo from yesterday, so they scheduled a meeting where each attendee thought it was about a separate subject. What an [barnfargle] inconvenience that was."