Expecting all your coworkers to understand your jargon is just blue-sky thinking. Maybe we should brainstorm or action a project so that going forward we can think outside of the box and make sure we are all singing from the same hymn-sheet. If not, we can circle back and not have to re-invent the wheel to understand each other.
These are just a few of the phrases that London Offices collected in a survey of jargon we can’t stand. While almost all of us say we hate jargon, American Express OPEN just released a survey that said that 64 of Americans use jargon multiple times per week. And the problem with that is that jargon isn’t very clear; they also discovered that 88 percent of Americans pretend to understand office jargon.
To read the list, click here: The 50 Most Annoying Office Jargon Phrases
And I’m having a contest over on Facebook! Hope over to participate in the best jargon contest. The winner receives genuine Swiss chocolate! Here is the link.
Take the temperature
Due diligence
Move the needle
Skin in the game
Eating our own dog food
I thought I had heard it all, until someone asked about my “Burning Initiatives.” All I could think was that I wouldn’t tell a stranger about my burning initiatives, I would discuss them with my doctor!
Larding the sprocket
“Reach out”
I just picture zombies, arms outstretched, trying to make their way to my throat.
Also if I hear one more Ph.D. or executive officer in my organization prefacing a sentence with, “If I’m understanding you correctly….” GACK! You’re paid six figures and have a vegetable soup of credentials after your name. If you don’t understand me correctly you need to be fired!!
Kicked in or kicks in, meaning something starts.
Gross as an exclamation of disgust when hearing about really egregious discrimination or harassment or otherwise strange behavior.
Hike meaning increase in fees charged. A hike is a walk in the woods.
The latest in our office is “socialize this information”, meaning “communicate this information to other people”.
My snark back to, “There is no ‘i’ in team,” is, “There is no ‘u’ on My Team.”
One that has not faded way is “proactive.” The boss who espoused this bit of was of wisdom was entirely inactive, so this still at least gets a chuckle.
My favorite response to “There’s no I in TEAM” is, “Funny, there’s no WE in TEAM, either.”