Did you drive to work today in a horseless carriage?

Yes, that's right, "horseless carriage."

Today we use a different name for those gas-burning vehicles with four tires, seatbelts and a few handy cup holders. We call them cars. But a hundred years ago, at the dawn of a revolution in transportation, the automobile stretched our imaginations so wildly that the only way we could describe it was by referring to something more familiar. We described this major innovation not by detailing its attributes, but by underscoring those it lacked. Only when the auto became more commonplace did we abandon the old terminology. Of course it was horseless -- that was the point.

What does this mini-lesson in historical linguistics have to do with careers?

Everything. Because in the early 21st century, the world of work is changing as dramatically as the world of transportation changed in the early 20th century. And once again, our vocabulary is struggling to keep pace.

Take the old standby "job." For most of this century, the word signified steady, stable, lifelong, full-time employment with a single company. But now it's returning to its preindustrial meaning -- a project, an assignment, something with a finite beginning and end. Today, when Americans look for a job, they know they're looking more for a short-term engagement rather than lifelong employment.

Or consider the phrase "independent contractor," a legal term that essentially means "not an employee." But as jobs last for shorter durations and as more people work independently by choice, chance or circumstance, that term is losing much of its resonance. In today's turbulent talent market, we're all independent contractors in some sense, whether we're genuinely self-employed soloists or we simply manage our careers as if we were.

Author Daniel Pink makes a similar point in his new book, Free Agent Nation. He interviewed hundreds of independent workers and found that they're using an array of new terms to describe themselves:

Consultant, once a euphemism for an unemployed white-collar worker (old joke: Yeah, I'm consulting too…consulting the want ads.), is now a common label for independent workers; permalancer, someone who begins as a contract worker and decides to maintain that status even when offered a traditional job; techno-cowboy, hired gun, lone ranger and other labels from the Wild West; gurus, nomads, gypsies and other labels from the Ancient East; cabdriver and information backpacker, often used to describe new media freelancers; and terms based on tax status such as 1099er.

Pink also writes of "corporate yentas" (New Economy matchmakers who connect people to projects), "confederations" (loose alliances of independent workers who sometimes work together and sometimes separately) and even "COBRA Babies" (children born during the 18-month window when their parents are still covered by their former employer's health insurance).

Yes, it's getting a bit weird. No, there's not much we can or should do about it. Today, the realities of work are speeding ahead like a Ferrari, while the vocabulary of work is racing like a horseless carriage to catch up.

The lesson for companies: Watch your words. Make sure there's a clear understanding between what you're saying and what the worker is hearing and doing. Make sure definitions are clear. Stay ahead of the work word game and keep your ear to the ground for new terminology and ways to describe work.

The lesson for individuals: Choose your words carefully. Say what you mean; mean what you say. And if you're looking for a growth industry, consider the dictionary business.