Terminology

A phone call was transferred to me on the sales floor. According to my employee, the caller needed information/prices on {something I'd never heard of before}. The employee sounded like he knew what it was, so I asked, "Price on a WHAT?"

"A {still not sounding familiar}. You know, it's an accessory for a {item we carry}."

"A {term that I know}? Oh, never heard it called {the other term} before."

"Sure, when I first started in this business that used to be the only name for them." (Employee is quite a bit older than me.)

I got on the phone with the customer and determined that what my employee said the term meant wasn't what the customer wanted. Instead of explaining what she wanted, she got angry. "A {ANCIENT TERM THAT NO ONE USES ANY MORE}! DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THEM?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you mean by a {ancient term}."

"A {SAME ANCIENT TERM}! {SAME ANCIENT TERM}!

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, can you explain it to me, please? I'm not familiar with that word."

The whole time she treated me like an idiot. What, because I didn't know a term that hasn't been used in my lifetime?! We finally got on the same page and I was able to tell her that we, in fact, definitely did NOT carry that item, which was actually a part to an item that we do sell. Further, I had never seen that part being sold ANYWHERE.

Could I suggest a place for her to find it? Sure, I can suggest you call around to the other stores in the area but use the modern term for the item when you ask for it.