Office jargon
By TJ (23-08-2007)
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Office Angels asked over 1,600 workers to reveal their top must-use buzzwords in 2007 and their must-avoid clichés.
The survey found that buzzwords should be used with care. 55% of those questioned agree that using the latest language ‘improves your standing at work’, but 23% believe jargon of any kind labels you ‘pretentious’. And bosses beware. 76% believe the boss using a phrase more commonly used by younger colleagues is more likely to backfire than create a sense of common ground.
2007’s essential office buzzwords
- Thought grenade – ‘explosive’ good ideas (65%)
- Let’s sunset that – bad ideas that never see the light of day again (63%)
- Little ‘r’ me – a request for a private answer to an e-mail (55%)
- Information touchpoint – workers are swapping meetings for information touchpoints (43%)
Jargon faux-pas
- Blue sky thinking – this phrase casts a cloud for 88% of respondents
- Singing from the same hymn sheet – this falls flat for 76%
- Thinking outside the box – the third most nominated faux-pas (65%)
- Let’s take it offline – taking your discussions ‘offline’ is off limits for 54%
- Park that thought – when someone wants to discuss a good idea later (35%)
Phrases to avoid at all costs
- Getting down with the kids – the ‘kids’ (i.e. junior office workers) won’t appreciate the boss's efforts to ‘get down’ (87%)
- Open up your kimono - it means ‘put your cards on the table’, but is disliked by 65%
- Let’s raise the anchor and let this one drift – meaning to forget about a bad idea (55%)
- There’s no I in team – the cliché that out-clichés all others (44%)
- Am I bovvered? – 'No!' say 42%
Although advertising and marketing firms were the biggest ‘jargon judgers’, other sectors followed closely behind, suggesting office language is increasingly seen as an important barometer of ‘cool’.
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