I get annoyed by thoughtless and uncreative use of certain overused terms/statements in corporate settings. Below are some that are so annoying, they distract me from the conversation. What are some that annoy you?

  • Peel back the layers of an onion
  • Incentivize
  • Let’s table that so we can circle back to it later
  • We’ll out that on the backburner
  • Let’s not reinvent the wheel
  • They just started a new project, so their plate’s full and might not have the bandwidth for an additional something else.
  • Grab the low-hanging fruit
  • That’s a game changer
  • The ball’s in their court. If you don’t hear from them soon, send them an email to touch base.
  • I sent it up the food chain, so it’s out of my hands.
  • Let’s give it 110%
  • There are lots of moving parts
  • We need to have an aha moment
  • At the end of the day, what matters are the key takeaways
  • Let’s engage in the best practices
  • They’re working on it as we speak
  • It’s a controversial approach, so we might get some flak for that.
  • So-and-so is not a people person
  • @MarrukEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    I’m curious of how much of the annoyance at these jargon terms is generational. I’ve seen a couple versions of this article (https://www.businessinsider.com/workplace-jargon-gen-z-and-millennials-left-out-work-2023-6) floating around the past couple of days, and people my age (I’m gen x) and older seem to be the main people relying on workplace jargon.

    I used to hate all of the office jargon so freakin’ much, but eventually decided that it is an excellent tool for masking. I still avoid a lot of the phrases listed, but some have made it into my regular vocabulary because they easily identify complex yet frequently relevant concepts. I’m much less likely to wind up in spin if I can say “we should focus on such-and-such because it is low-hanging fruit”; otherwise I’ll tend to dive into a deep analysis of the relative benefits compared to the work effort involved of every relevant item, just to convince people that “such-and-such” is the best place for us to focus our limited resources.

    • BOMBSOPMEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      otherwise I’ll tend to dive into a deep analysis of the relative benefits compared to the work effort involved of every relevant item

      I bet the autistic people would appreciate and value you for that. Some NTs might get upset or feel threatened by your thorough analysis tho.

      • @MarrukEnglish
        2•1 year ago

        Unfortunately, the vast majority of my coworkers that I interact with at this point in my career seem to be very strongly NT. The other autists mostly seem to have migrated to roles where they can operate primarily independently and without interruption (I’m in IT, surprise surprise :) ).