While teaching at a large bank recently, I started talking about business jargon, and more precisely business buzzwords. I said that for many native-speakers, this sort of language can be incomprehensible, sound pretentious or just sound plain ugly.
Business jargon - interactive lesson
Like any other jargon, business-specific jargon can of course be very useful, can even lead to more precision, that otherwise would involve long explanations. But what we are talking about here is something different – those trendy expressions which are used perhaps to impress and which Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times has been campaigning against. [3]
One of the students said they don’t know how to differentiate between what we could call legitimate business terminology and meaningless buzzwords. There are several places on the web where you can find lists of these expressions, but we’ll start with those that the BBC find people in Britain hate most. [4]
Buzz expressions
These are quite easily spotted, as they often sound strange, stupid or pretentious.
Exercise 1 - See if you can match these expressions with their meanings. Use the drop down selectors, and then click on 'Check answers'
1. | Blue-sky thinking | a | Looking to the future | ||
2. | Get your ducks in a row | b | To tell everything you know about a particular topic | ||
3. | Brain dump | c | Improve performance by going beyond commonly accepted boundaries | ||
4. | Think outside the box | d | Idealistic or visionary ideas - not always with practical application | ||
5. | Joined-up thinking | e | Have arrangements efficiently ordered | ||
6. | Drill down | f | Get more detail about a particular issue | ||
7. | Push the envelope | g | An overview | ||
8. | The helicopter view | h | Taking into account how things affect each other - not looking at something in isolation | ||
9. | Low-hanging fruit | i | Don't limit your thinking to within your job description; be creative | ||
10. | Going forward | j | The easiest targets |
Verbification
This is: "the tendency - usually American - to turn perfectly good nouns into perfectly bad verbs." [5] NB I have used AmE spelling in this section, as this what you are more likely to see.
Note that several simple words can sound better than a single 'verbified' verb. Or you can try using a different word instead. Eg influence instead of impact
Note that several simple words can sound better than a single 'verbified' verb. Or you can try using a different word instead. Eg influence instead of impact
Look at these verbs, all relatively recent adaptations of nouns, and at how they are used in context.
Noun | Verb | Example sentence |
action | action | could you all action this ASAP? |
incentive | incentivize | we need to incentivize the staff |
priority | prioritize | you should prioritize your tasks |
money | monetize | how can I monetize this blog? |
impact | impact | how will this impact the business? |
favorite | favorite | this video has been favorited three times |
task | task | I've been tasked with bringing coffee to the meeting. |
decision | decision | we're decisioning that right now. |
Exercise 2 - Now look at these noun constructions. Which noun goes with which construction?
1. | put things into order of | |
2. | be given the of doing something | |
3. | be added to somebody's list of | |
4. | make from something | |
5. | have a(n) on somebody, something | |
6. | give a(n) to somebody | |
7. | take / make a | |
8. | put something into |
It's not that all verbification is ugly. I happily use 'Google' as a verb, for example. I probably even talk about accessing a file. And many verbs we now take for granted such as sleep, ship (as in transport) and divorce, started off life as verbs. It's just some sound better than others. And it's also all very subjective.
Leverage - note that this word now has several different meanings
The noun
- The action or advantage of using a lever
- The power to influence people and get the results you want. It is used a lot in this sense when talking about negotiations [6], and has been for a long time.
- a) The use of various financial instruments to increase the potential return of an investment.
b) The amount of debt used to finance a firm's assets
The verb as technical jargon
Using credit, based on the third meaning of the noun - we heard this usage a lot during the financial crisis. [7]
- over-leveraged - has borrowed too much money and cannot make payments on the debt
- de-leverage - try to get out of debt [8]
- leveraged buy-out - to use borrowed money to buy a company [9]
The verb as buzzword
"The grandpappy of nouns turned verbs, 'leverage' is used indiscriminately to describe how a resource can be applied to a particular environment or situation. 'We intend to leverage our investment in IT infrastructure across our business units to drive profits.'" (MBA Watch) [10]
"To utilize a resource. A list of the worst business jargon would, of course, be incomplete without it." (TheOfficeLife) [11]
Some funny buzzwords
And now for some tongue-in-cheek buzzwords I rather like, as they are rather creative. Many of them come from here [12]
Exercise 3 - Try and match the words on the left with their definitions. Click on 'Check answers' when you've finished.
Buzzword bingo
Buzzword bingo is a bingo-style game where participants prepare bingo cards with buzzwords and tick them off when they are uttered during an event, such as a meeting or speech. The goal of the game is to tick off a predetermined number of words in a row and then yell "Bingo!" (Wikipedia) [14].
You can see it in action at YouTube. [15]. There are versions available for iPhone and Android (see the Wikpedia article).
Or you can print out cards at Bullshit Bingo [16]
Final thoughts
Where to find them
The most comprehensive collection is probably at TheOfficeLife [11]. I like the author's comments at MBA Watch [10]. Buzzwords 4 lists the funnier ones [12], and there's an index at Wikipedia [13]
Lost causes
As even Barack Obama uses going forward, I'm afraid we're stuck with it now.
Words such as prioritize, and expressions such as paradigm shift have crept into the Business English course books, so unfortunately we're stuck with them too.
Words such as prioritize, and expressions such as paradigm shift have crept into the Business English course books, so unfortunately we're stuck with them too.
One man's meat is another man's poison [17]
In the end this is all very subjective. I don't particularly mind - to grow the company - although others including Kellaway think this verb should be reserved for plants etc. On the other hand I hate - incentivize - while others have no problems with it.
Yesterday's buzzwords are commonplace today
It's worth remembering that words like brainstorm and outsource were probably once considered buzzwords, but seem perfectly normal words to us now.
Links and Sources
- BBC News - Workplace jargon 'isolates staff'
- The Telegraph - Councils told to ditch meaningless jargon
- BBC News - Lucy Kellaway's campaign to ditch 'going forward'
- BBC News Magazine - 50 office-speak phrases you love to hate
- Buzzwords 4
- Wikipedia - Leverage in negotiations
- Investopedia - Leverage
- Investopedia - Deleverage
- Investopedia - Leveraged buyout
- MBA Jargon Watch - "Where business jargon goes to die" (very funny comments)
- TheOfficeLife - "The Ridiculous Business Jargon Dictionary" (very comprehensive)
- Buzzwords 4 - (very creative)
- Wikipedia - List of buzzwords
- Wikipedia - Buzzword Bingo
- YouTube - Buzzword Bingo
- Bullshit Bingo - Cards for Buzzword (aka Bullshit) Bingo
- Free Dictionary - One man's meat is another man's poison
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