Dec14

2011′s Most Hated Buzzwords

By Dave Distefano, Creative Director | Posted in Advertising, Off-Topic, Workplace

It’s the end of another year.  That means Holidays, gifts, awkward family get-togethers and for some of us, time to put some seriously tired buzz words out of their misery.

Okay, probably a lot of us.  As of late, this current list (found in full article form at meetingboy.com here) nails down a lot of the words and phrases we’d just as soon not hear from another agency creative, CEO, or corporate-type for a long, LONG time!  Off we go, complete with percentages of ‘hate’:

  1. think outside the box (16%)
  2. circle back (15%)
  3. synergy (14%)
  4. it is what it is (13%)
  5. touch base (13%)
  6. at the end of the day (13%)
  7. let’s take this offline (12%)
  8. low-hanging fruit (11%)
  9. value-added (11%)
  10. proactive (10%)
  11. paradigm shift (9%)
  12. best practices (9%)
  13. going forward (8%)
  14. take it to the next level (7%)
  15. 30,000-foot view (or any other multi-thousand foot view) (7%)
  16. win-win (7%)
  17. on the same page (7%)
  18. leverage (6%)
  19. a lot on my plate (6%)
  20. robust (6%)
  21. work smarter (5%)
  22. impactful (4%)
  23. rockstar (4%)
  24. holistic (4%)
  25. no-brainer (4%)
  26. net-net (3%)
  27. do whatever it takes (3%)
  28. plus-up (2%)
  29. flawless execution (1%)

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We’d like to add to this list: Critical, Streamline, Best-in-class and Proprietary.  If you encounter anyone over-using any or all of these, be sure to promptly put on your best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice and loudly exclaim, “SHTAP TAWKING NAUW!”

May we all do whatever it takes to work smarter at thinking out of the box during this Holiday Season.  That way, when we circle back on this year, we can realize that, going forward, we are capable of taking it to the next level.  It is what it is.