Stephen A. Kliment, former editor of Architectural Record, says a lot of the time even he can't figure out what the heck today's architects and other high-concept designers are talking about. In his book "Writing for Design Professionals" (W. W. Norton, 1998), he pleads for clarity in proposals, letters, brochures and professional articles. Sure, every profession has its useful private shorthand, he says, and architecture is no exception. But when you start talking about decontextualizing your intrinsic modularity — designer-babble terms that Mr. Kliment says he has encountered — you know your profession's in trouble linguistically.

Nicholas Pinney has wrapped and unwrapped his cedar garland until it swags and cascades voluptuously. Down the mantel it runs — all 12 feet of it — a cedar roping intertwined with a colorful texture of greens and berries run riot. Such a garland of greenery epitomizes the heights of this past year's designer-babble about "bringing the outdoors in" and the current interest in nature symbolism.