The words we love and hate.
The 80/20 rule (noun)
Definition: a widely adopted principle that 20 percent of something always produces 80 percent of the results. Management guru Joseph Juran expanded the theory, established in 1906 by Italian economist Vilfred Pareto, and now it's applied it to all kinds of concepts: 20 percent of your sales force will produce 80 percent of your revenue, or 20 percent of your defects will create 80 precent of your problems, and so on.
Why we hate it: Juran's legitimate management principle is co-opted so often that it's lost its original meaning, plus it's often used incorrectly. He recently died at 103, but the theory lives on and on and on.
Actionable (adjective)
Definition: subject to or affording ground for an action or suit at law; in business terms, it's the idea of taking action toward a solution; e.g., "Let's take actionable steps to solve that issue."
Why we hate it: Stealing lingo from wordy lawyers? That's a bad sign.
"Ah-ha" moment (noun)
Definition: the moment when you get it: the solution, the realization, the answer
Why we hate it: OK for use in conversation, but don't write it down; it's clunky and awkward-looking.
Backstory (noun)
Definition: Jason Bourne had one; Starsky and Hutch had one as well. Made popular by Hollywood screenwriters, this word has crept into our everyday vocabularies to describe the events—whether real or made up—that precede the story at hand. Business folks have caught the fever and the word is often used as the "context" surrounding an action or decision.
Why we love it: If it works for Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Jerry Bruckheimer, it works for us.
Bag of doorknobs (noun)
Definition: A website with poor navigation and too many links, i.e. there are too many "doors" to enter and no logical information structure to guide users toward the information they want.
Why we love it: It's a clever turn of phrase to quickly summarize a confused website in need of some help, plus it conjures up cool Harry Potter imagery.
Baked in (adjective)
Definition: anything that comes with a product. For example, "the spellchecker is baked into the email program."
Why we hate it: Our mothers' brownies have pecans baked into them. Products have features included in them.
Bandwidth (noun)
Definition: capacity; e.g., "We don't have the bandwidth to create that presentation."
Why we hate it: The darling of dotcommers and techies in the '90s, this word is past its prime.
Corner case (noun)
Definition: originally a legitimate engineering term, a corner case refers to a situation that happens when numerous variables occur simultaneously at extreme levels.
Why we hate it: We’re hearing it used to mean “exception to the rule,” but we’d just prefer to hear “exception to the rule.” With that phrase, everyone will know what you're talking about.
Crowdsourcing (noun)
Definition: using the average intelligence of a large number of people to solve a problem or create a product more quickly—and sometimes with better results—than with a small group of informed experts. Wikipedia.org is the most famous crowdsourcing project.
Why we love it: This Web 2.0 buzzword is not a fuzzword.
Cycles (noun)
Definition: Available time and resources, like "bandwidth." Use derived from references to computer processing cycles.
Why we hate it: Why do people in the workplace need yet another euphemism to describe capacity? Is it shame? Fear? We really don't know.
Deep dive (noun)
Definition: to explore or discuss something in great detail; i.e., "The presentation will provide an overview. Then you can do a deep dive when you meet one-on-one with participants."
Why we love it: There's nothing fuzzy about this descriptive metaphor.
Emoticons (noun)
Definition: a series of letters and symbols that emulate a facial expression, typically in an email, instant message, or text message.
Why we love it: How can you hate smiley faces (when used with restraint), or the cleverly coined word for them?
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Folksonomy (noun)
Definition: derived from "taxonomy," this cutesy colloquialism used to describe people-driven, collaborative organizational schema such as del.icio.us and flickr, where "plain folks" tag and classify content.
Why we hate it: Two reasons: One, "folk taxonomy" is an existing anthropological concept that may cause confusion. Two, taxonomies rely on established criteria for classification, whereas folksonomies are susceptible to error and caprice.
Fuzzword (noun)
Definition: a meaningless buzzword; in other words, business jargon. According to Marketing News, "a fuzzword carries with it an aura of a new, more exciting reality, but one that has no basis in the real world."
Why we love it: We don't like the fuzz, but we like having a word to describe it.
Google (verb)
Definition: to perform a Web search (of course, named after the popular search engine); e.g., "I'm going to google my blind date."
Why we love it: The abbreviation is handy, the word is catchy, and we wish we had stock in the company.
Grok (verb)
Definition: in Internet-nerd slang, to grok means to understand something to an almost Zen-like state, usually something that is known to a small subculture. For example, a programmer may claim that he or she "groks" a programming language.
Why we love it: Grok is one of those words that acts as a line in the sand: You get it or you don't. It's useful for separating out the nerd elite from the normal people.
Hallmarketing (noun)
Definition: de rigueur in the United States, hallmarketing is the holiday push that starts weeks or months before the holiday is even on your radar.
Why we love it: We saw Valentine's Day merchandise on January 3rd, and we're sure the Easter bunny isn't far behind. Now we have a clever word for the irritating trend.
Iceberg principle (noun)
Definition: the idea that in any situation, only a small part of the problem will initially be visible (from Understanding American Business Jargon: A Dictionary)
Why we love it: If you're doomed to be the next Titanic, at least you can identify what you're facing with a snappy catch phrase.
Impact (verb)
Definition: to affect one's business; e.g., "Savvy marketing can impact your bottom line."
Why we hate it: We're not afraid to change with the times, but we were taught that impact is a noun. We'd like to keep it that way.
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Incentivize (verb)
Definition: business lingo meaning to provide a reason or impetus for someone to do something, to motivate. "The new features will incentivize user participation."
Why we hate it: Was the English vocabulary so lacking in variety that we needed another to way to say, "encourage?"
Knock the cover off the ball (verb)
Definition: to wildly exceed expectations. Co-opted from baseball, in which it refers to a batter whacking a ball with so much force that the leather comes off.
Why we love it: Just envision Roy Hobbs knocking the cover off the ball in "The Natural." Is there a spot for Robert Redford in the All-Star Game?
Leverage (verb)
Definition: use, take full advantage of
Why we hate it: See "impact." The business world has tried to turn leverage into a verb, but it's a noun. We continue to fight the good fight.
The long tail (noun)
Definition: the opposite of mass market. Economically, it's where giving consumers highly individualized choices is more valuable than producing hits or blockbusters. For example, three or four big Hollywood movies have huge weekend audiences, whereas Netflix has 55,000 titles and ships one million DVDs every day. See narrowcasting.
Why we hate it: A useful concept that takes a lot of explaining. It also ignores the potential of the long tail: Catering to many niche consumers can be more profitable than pumping out one-size-fits-all products or content.
Narrowcasting (verb)
Definition: the opposite of broadcasting. Used in the marketing sense, it means sending a message to a small group of people likely to respond vs. contacting a large group where response rates will probably be much lower. See the long tail.
Why we love it: It's a descriptive term for a good concept-knowing your audience and packaging your message appropriately.
Offline (adverb)
Definition: to move a conversation from a meeting to another time and place; e.g., "Let's finish our agenda and take that point offline."
Why we hate it: This phrase saw its spike in the 1990s; now it's cliché and overused.
Optimize (verb)
Definition: to make optimal; to make the most of
Why we hate it: We love the definition, but the word has been appropriated by a lot of folks who want to make "optimizing" sound like black magic and voodoo. It's not.
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Out of pocket (adjective)
Definition: unavailable, not able to attend meetings or respond to email. Potential origins of this phrase include accounting (when traveling, business people often pay expenses "out of pocket") and football (when a quarterback is protected by his team, he is "in the pocket"; when he's unprotected, he's "out of pocket").
Why we hate it: One word is better than three and "unavailable" or "traveling" says it all. Plus colorful phrases should simplify, not confuse.
Ping (verb)
Definition: to touch base with someone, typically via email or instant messenger
Why we love it: It's onomatopoeic and it packs more punch than email, its less glamorous synonym.
Robust (adjective)
Definition: hardy, vigorous, strongly or stoutly built. When used to describe technology, it generally means a system is resilient to unpredictability or heavy input.
Why we hate it: Now used to describe everything from multiple product features to heavy user activity to exponential growth in market share, the original technical meaning has been lost. This word's overused–find another one.
Shelfware (noun)
Definition: also called coasterware, this is software that you purchase and then don't use — it just sits on the shelf.
Why we love it: It's descriptive and, unfortunately, all too relevant. Is there a similar word to describe the unworn shoes in our closets?
Siloed (adjective)
Definition: to be segregated, cut off, held separately. IT workers first used this term to describe data isolated in "vertical towers" or "islands" across an organization preventing effective storage, access, or interpretation. Today, siloed has become a fairly common business term applied to any resource monopolized by one part of a company; e.g., "We need those numbers, but they're siloed in the accounting department."
Why we hate it: The term is overused, plus it inevitably becomes tangled up in mixed metaphors involving islands, fortresses, or pools.
Socialize (verb)
Definition: to distribute documents such as a presentation, plan, etc. with the goal of building consensus.
Why we hate it: People socialize, PowerPoint presentations do not.
Soup to nuts (adjective)
Definition: Completing every aspect of a project or building every aspect of a technology from beginning to end. Refers to a traditional full-course meal, beginning with soup and ending with nuts as the dessert.
Why we love it: It's a descriptive analogy and we like the obscure, old-timey reference. Plus, who doesn't love incorporating food metaphors into the workplace?
Special sauce (noun)
Definition: alluding to burger restaurants having a secret special sauce (i.e. Thousand Island Dressing), this refers to proprietary business information.
Why we hate it: We like our burgers medium-rare with mustard, ketchup and mayo, and we like our jargon to be a lot clearer than this fuzzword.
Spit (noun)
Definition: spam over Internet telephony; now you can have unwanted messages and advertisements delivered to you twice as fast.
Why we love it: Like "ping," SPIT is what it sounds like: something you need to get rid of.
Splog (noun)
Definition: a fake blog created by spammers in order to generate click-through ad revenue, usually featuring fake articles heavy on keywords in order to increase the blog's Google ranking.
Why we love it: Web 2.0 brings its own nuisances, and this short monosyllabic word is perfect for describing one of them.
Strategic goals and objectives (noun)
Definition: overall accomplishments that you'd like to achieve
Why we hate it: Why use three words when one will suffice?
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Surface (verb)
Definition: to bring to light objections or specific problems while discussing a course of action. "The project was presented and the benefits and objections were surfaced."
Why we hate it: While we applaud the idea of planning ahead and communicating effectively to prevent future problems, the time you'd need to explain what this means could be saved by simply saying "examined."
Sweet spot (noun)
Definition: originally a sports term (the sweet spot of your baseball bat or racket is the spot where the vibration from the impact of the ball is canceled out, so the hitter doesn't feel any stinging or shaking), the phrase is now applied to business. For example, if you set a price in the sweet spot, you will ensure the best profit.
Why we hate it: Baseball has given us enough clichés. This one's not a home run.
Uplevel (verb)
Definition: corporate-speak for elevating something beyond current capabilities or perceptions
Why we hate it: Those in the corporate world should "uplevel" their thinking and coin a phrase that's a bit less pompous.
Value proposition (noun)
Definition: a pithy, simple statement about the value something delivers to a client
Why we hate it: It's marketing jargon; "value" would suffice.
WFR-ed (verb, transitive)
Definition: to cease employing; to lay off, usually as a cost-cutting measure; from the acronym for "work force reduction." For example, "George was WFR-ed last week, so I'm picking up his projects."
Why we hate it: After a couple of decades of lay-offs, restructuring, and cost cutting, do we really need another euphemism for "getting the boot?"
Word of mouse (noun)
Definition: old-fashioned word of mouth with a viral marketing spin. For example, the "forward to a friend" button on many websites and email newsletters is an example of word of mouse.
Why we love it: Free advertising combined with the speed and reach of the Internet? That's an excellent holiday gift.
Zerotasking (noun)
Definition: daydreaming, sitting around, doing nothing. According to buzzwhack.com, the term originated with a New Yorker cartoon picturing a "serene-looking man plopped in a comfy chair."
Why we love it: It's more fun than multitasking, but we do keep our zerotasking to a minimum.
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