Apr 10, 2019 01:06
5 yrs ago
6 viewers *
English term

Pseudo-gurus?

English Bus/Financial Marketing / Market Research coaching/consulting
How do you call
(1) pseudo-gurus and fake biz-coaches
(2) initially *without* relevant hands-on exp, skills, and good intentions, boasting fake titles and for-show riches–
(3) who offer both online and offline
(4) such expensive *yet false* mentoring/consulting ‘info-products’ as phony courses, know-how’s, “franchises”, sale funnels, promotions, contents, co-ops, and so on–
(5) using NLP, hypnosis, logical fallacies and ploys for blocking the audience’s critical thinking; exploiting fears, guilt, and shame while stimulating lust, greed, and other vile motives?

By all means such hype manipulators are to squeeze maximum possible checks out of befuddled prospects, making them buy useless and trivial ‘products’–sometimes over and over.

The cons just make huge profits from their shows, using the fake education/mis-information as a cover.


Thank you
Change log

Apr 10, 2019 12:49: NancyLynn changed "Visibility" from "Visible" to "Squashed"

Apr 11, 2019 21:23: Yana Dovgopol changed "Visibility" from "Squashed" to "Visible"

Discussion

DZiW (X) (asker) Apr 12, 2019:
among the synonyms I think such artists deliberately coin new words, blurring the definitions: a "pseudo guru" seems to be more about spirituality whereas they are into 'mind-changing' sheer commercialism; an "online conman" abuses the internet whereas they also give "live" shows, functions, and classes; a "bait-and-switch" con tries to hide or run away soon whereas they prefers online and offline publicity; a "cult leader" tends to lambasting others' whereas they make occasional rebuttals; and so on.

So far, what term may fit *best* for--

1) "In the area of infobiz [consulting] *THEY* [as 'successful coaches'] offer expensively packed [targeted/specialized] yet useless 'info-products' such as ALLEGEDLY time-tested and effective know-how's, courses, franchises, ad/promotions and so on, pressing to continue 'biz education'.

2) "Unlike online scammers, pseudo-investors, manipulators and fake business gurus, *THEY* [showmen] publicly and very aggressively draw prospects into commercial cults, using hype, NLP techniques, hypnosis, fallacy and other tricks."

In Russian it stands for "info-gypsy", yet I'd prefer a more neutral and acceptable term.

Thank you
David Hollywood Apr 10, 2019:
select the answer you feel is the best that fits as we are duplicating ourselves here

Responses

+3
2 days 12 hrs
English term (edited): pseudo-gurus
Selected

bogus self-proclaimed 'experts'.

You already have lots of synonyms in your question (and Dbox post) for "pseudo" and lots in the answers too. But you say you want something more neutral

Gurus are experts or authorities, often spiritual leaders or "sages" with a large number of acolytes or followers.

However, when you put "pseudo" with "guru" you're getting a total phony, a fraudster, imposter, quack, shyster, or con artist who sells snake oil to the masses ("snake-oil merchant")!

There are so many synonyms for this type of person, including the rather archaic "mountebank" but I've given a cover-all term in the header.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2019-04-14 11:06:07 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Glad to have helped.
Peer comment(s):

agree writeaway : con artist covers all bases. Rip-off artist comes to mind but that's more what they end up being as a result of their dishonesty.
9 mins
Many thanks:-) Agree but Asker already has con (artist) in their question and Dbox post so I assumed they wanted something else.
agree katsy
1 day 1 hr
Many thanks:-)
agree neilmac : Bogus! Great word :-)
7 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "While there's no full equivalent in English (yet?), using the Russian term in quotes followed by the description is ok. Thank you"
+1
16 mins

sham gurus

Definition of pseudo
: being apparently rather than actually as stated : SHAM, SPURIOUS
Peer comment(s):

agree MEHMET CETIN
9 days
Something went wrong...
59 mins
English term (edited): pseudo-gurus

[See below.]

People who claim to be authorities on a given subject who have a large following who accept their authority - but who in reality are not authorities at all.

*******

All three of these elements are important in defining the concept of a “pseudo-guru.”
Peer comment(s):

neutral David Hollywood : don't see any difference whatever to my post ... but carry on
38 mins
Well, if someone is called a “guru,” - even if he or she really is not an authority - it suggests that the person in question enjoys a certain following of those who accept their authority. You did not include this latter element in your response.
Something went wrong...
1 hr

charlatans

I hope I've understood your question correctly, but you seem to be looking for a synonym for pseudo-gurus, which is itself a perfectly valid phrase, rather than an explanation.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charlatan
Peer comment(s):

neutral David Hollywood : could be and this is one of the these questions that will get quite a few responses
33 mins
Something went wrong...
2 mins

"experts" who claim to be in the know but aren't

that's it

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 mins (2019-04-10 01:12:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://www.religionworld.in/real-or-pseudo-guru/

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2019-04-10 01:18:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

basically these types use manipulation and psychological pressure to get people to succumb to whatever it is these so-called "gurus" are offering

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 48 mins (2019-04-10 01:54:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

don't buy it :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-04-10 03:14:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

go with what you think is right

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-04-10 03:15:51 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

and you'll find the right way to go
Peer comment(s):

neutral writeaway : that's really catchy...
2 days 11 hrs
Something went wrong...
5 hrs

Schlock jocks

pseudo-gurus => Schlock jocks

SCHLOCK JOCK (Schlock is trash, something shoddy. The term “schlock” comes from the American Yiddish word “shlak”, with the same meaning.M
Something went wrong...
2 days 8 hrs

fake/false teachers

My opinion.
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search