ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2007 > March > 08 > Entry
Office talk overkill?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the movie “Office Space” (which should be required viewing for anyone who works in an office and is not terribly offended by four-letter words or scenes of extreme violence against a fax machine), the protagonist, Peter, is accused by an overly perky co-worker of “having a case of the Mondays.” This phrase annoys him enough that he later asks his construction-worker neighbor, Lawrence, whether anyone ever says that at his job. Lawrence replies that saying something like that likely would result in physical harm — though, of course, Lawrence puts it more colorfully.
People tend to have their favorite — and least favorite — phrases, and being around the same people at work every day offers ample opportunities to hear them over and over … and over … One of my friends had a boss who always used to say, “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise,” which grated on her nerves.
My pet-peeve phrases usually have something to do with overused or otherwise irritating business jargon. A former boss would pepper virtually every e-mail, memo or conversation with “FYIs.” (I still get a little shudder down my spine when I hear that!) My current No. 1 verbal nemesis is “at the end of the day” — as in, “At the end of the day, we will have created a profitable and crowd-pleasing product.” As with many pet peeves, this one isn’t easily explained. It’s not even an objection to the literal meaning (few of the projects being discussed are completed in a day!) so much as to the phrase itself and its seemingly endless appearances at meetings and in other “business-speak” situations.
What words or phrases do your co-workers or bosses use over and over that just rub you the wrong way for some reason? Why do you think those words or phrases irk you so much? Have you ever said anything to the boss or co-worker about something he or she says that gets on your nerves? Or do you just grin, bear it and tune it out?
Comments
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By Nicky
March 8, 2007 8:49 AM | Link to this
How about “taking one for the team”! I am the only non-sales person on a sales floor and have to hear this cheesy phrase all day!
By GenXDen
March 8, 2007 12:21 PM | Link to this
We once had a trainer that would inappropriately overuse the word “paradigm”. It seemed like this person couldn’t possibly form a sentence without that word in it. One of my co-workers and I would glance at each other every time she said it because it was an obvious attempt at “impressing” a faux intellect on those who really didn’t know (or care) what the word actually meant. I swore that one day it would be used for every other word in her sentences…..like “I just paradigmed my hair with new Paradigm. It really gives it a new paradigm, don’t you agree?” Finally, I gave the definition of the word to her. Funny thing was, she never used the word again!
By Nicole
March 8, 2007 2:06 PM | Link to this
The girl I used to work with would always say “Fire” as in that food is Fire and that is sooo fire. EVERYTHING was fire, I wanted to rip my ears off. I’d never heard this slang used before and hope not to ever hear it again!!!!
By Joe
March 8, 2007 3:18 PM | Link to this
Anything ‘OUTSIDE THE BOX’ just makes me sick!!
By Dusty
March 8, 2007 3:26 PM | Link to this
“thinking outside the box” is WAY over used and I just want to punch anyone that says it.
By David
March 8, 2007 3:27 PM | Link to this
If I have to “think outside the box” one more time I will shoot someone!
By Sagegirl
March 8, 2007 3:52 PM | Link to this
URGENT is thrown around waaaayyy to easily.
By Vanessa
March 8, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this
I cannot stand “ping” or “reach out” Where did those words even come from. It is used EVERY DAY at my office and I CANNOT TAKE IT ANYMORE
By Ron
March 8, 2007 4:03 PM | Link to this
Anything with the word “team” just grates my nerves. They use “team” for everything, but operate just the opposite…so unlike a team. “Communication” is another word that gets under my skin, because we have the worst communication around here. I swear they use the words, just because they can. uugghh!
By beth
March 8, 2007 4:19 PM | Link to this
I hate the word PROACTIVE. Ex: ‘We must be proactive in contacting customers if there is a problem.’ My old company used it a lot. I always think about that zit solution that Jessica Simpson uses when I hear the word.
By Mary
March 8, 2007 4:21 PM | Link to this
I charge a dollar for anyone who uses the phrase “DEEPER DIVE”
By T.T.
March 8, 2007 4:28 PM | Link to this
My boss (a Ph.d.) uses words like hypercritical, hypercriticality, or hyper- something. She also likes the words “paradigm” and palliative. She uses them mainly because she thinks no one else knows what they mean, and she can sound more intelligent than those around her. She likes to throw out what one of my former supervisors liked to call 50-cent words to co-coworkers who have no idea what she’s saying. I do, because word trivia is “my thing”. My boss asked if anyone knew what a jackdaw was one morning in a meeting, and I was the only one who knew. I hate the overuse phrases/words pro-active , FYI, One Team, and visual view (is there any other kind?) that happens in my office.
By robert hudson
March 8, 2007 4:37 PM | Link to this
“moving forward” is way over used
By itko
March 8, 2007 4:38 PM | Link to this
Moving forward, I believe the paradigm shift will be etirely outside the box for this team. We must be more proactive* as we **ping these people who need a greater sense of urgency as they too enable paradigm shifts moving forward.
By GenXDen
March 8, 2007 4:41 PM | Link to this
@T.T. - “Visual View”?????? I am so sorry you had to go through that!!!!
By GenXDen
March 8, 2007 4:43 PM | Link to this
Hey All!!! Does everyone remember when everyone else was about to go Postal????? Phrases like “If they don’t get this done for me, I’m gonna go postal”? Postal Schmostal!!!!!!!
By celloraisen
March 8, 2007 4:44 PM | Link to this
The woman who trained me for my current position LOVES to say “going forward”. For example, “Going forward, let’s contact accounting when a problem like this comes up” or “This process isn’t working so let’s try this going forward”. Always makes me laugh!
By Hamma
March 8, 2007 4:45 PM | Link to this
Swim Lanes - as in a Swim Lane Presentation - what happen to process flow ? Throwing someone under the bus is wearing thin “White Boarding” an idea…….old, old old
By hamma
March 8, 2007 4:48 PM | Link to this
How about your “peers” ? Is co-worker a bad term ?
Meet, discuss, huddle, review, gather, deliberate…..you mean think about it ?
By Disgusted
March 8, 2007 4:49 PM | Link to this
“Ongoing” grates on me. It’s the lazy person’s way of saying “continuing,” but I suppose that’s too hard for people to spell or say.
By LINDA
March 8, 2007 4:50 PM | Link to this
I am sooooo sick of hearing what our “niche” is!!!!! Who cares……give me my paycheck.
By Linda
March 8, 2007 4:51 PM | Link to this
I must say that I do miss throwing it up and seeing who salutes it!!!!
By Swangirl
March 8, 2007 4:55 PM | Link to this
Hey, Amy, this is your buddy. I think my least favorite office buzz words is “synergy.” Blech!
At our former workplace, as you may recall, the word “collegial” got thrown around a lot. Double blech!
Then there’s the awful “rightsizing” instead of “downsizing” instead of the more truthful “layoffs.”
And as an aside to Mary, I actually know someone whose office had a “Deep Dive Team” that came in when the company changed hands. They even decorated their office with a nautical motif. She hated it, too.
By nerd
March 8, 2007 4:56 PM | Link to this
I hate “reach out”, “offline” (as in “let’s talk about that offline”), and “moving forward”…so annoying!
By GenXDen
March 8, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this
We had a manager that constantly said….Steady as she goes! Sometimes, however, it’s not what you say as much as how it’s said - right??? How about people that use finger quotes around most of what they say? Y’know what I mean…those people that can’t complete a sentence unless they wave two fingers from each hand in the air like they have some sort of neurological disorder!!!
By workethnicmya*
March 8, 2007 5:00 PM | Link to this
I too agree with all of you who hate the word “team” or the phrase “team player”! I also grimace when I hear my two-faced manager mention he loves someone to death, and then talks about them like a dog when they leave the ofice. Another jerk manager, uses the term “reach out to them” often. Did I mention he was a JERK!!!!!
By KB
March 8, 2007 5:00 PM | Link to this
what does paradigm mean ?
By toggle
March 8, 2007 5:02 PM | Link to this
beth , et al … couldn’t agree more about the word PROACTIVE. The opposite of reactive behavior is STRATEGIC behavior. ugghh …
And, if I hear another person tell me that I don’t want to have my cheese moved, I’ll develop a strategy to take care of them!
So much of what is passed off for organization development is horse*hit! I know … I’m an OD consultant!
Need to run … gotta look up the word jackdaw.
By BankGirl
March 9, 2007 8:40 AM | Link to this
The newest buzzword in my office is “tee it up” — whenever a new idea is presented, or a meeting is needed, someone is supposed to “tee it up”. I loathe it for two reasons: first it ends with a preposition and second: I don’t golf. GASP I also abhor “right-sizing” (euphemism for slash & burn staffing), “economies of scale”, “synergy” and our golden word: Opportunity (as in we don’t have any problems, just opportunities for improvement). Gag, gag, gag…..
By Joe Bleaux
March 9, 2007 8:47 AM | Link to this
ROBUST. Enough already.
By monica gellar
March 9, 2007 9:04 AM | Link to this
How about these beauties:
“drive the mothership”, “team through this”, “get my hands around it”, “watch for low-hanging fruit”
AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!
By Jo
March 9, 2007 9:06 AM | Link to this
“heads up”…Sooooo sick of it..
By trhall27
March 9, 2007 9:07 AM | Link to this
If I hear metrics or snapshot, I think I am going to lose it!
By mel
March 9, 2007 9:10 AM | Link to this
I hate “Just want to put this on your radar.” A former boss used it a thousand times a day- and I feel certain that we were not an airport nor any type of air defense company.
I also hate “skill set”. Sounds like something I need to get at home depot.
By Nina
March 9, 2007 9:27 AM | Link to this
How about ‘run with it’ or ‘dropped the ball’?
By JAMIE
March 9, 2007 9:34 AM | Link to this
The one that kills me and I cannot figure out where it got started is White Paper, as in give me a white paper on that. Just say write a frickin memo please!!!
By Peyton Walters
March 9, 2007 9:43 AM | Link to this
OK, smart guy, so if I’m an “associate,” how can I make partner? At the end of the day, do I have to be synergystically proactive to advance? We really should put together a task force to quantify the steps one must take to gain traction in the workplace and receive higher remuneration.
By monica gellar
March 9, 2007 9:45 AM | Link to this
I can’t stand it when someone comes to me and says:
“I have an opportunity for you. That just means that they are getting ready to dump something really messed up in your lap!
By D
March 9, 2007 9:45 AM | Link to this
‘I just brought fruition and synergy to the paradigm!’ things like that, things like, ‘just wanted to touch base with you’, and a really dumb one that is used everywhere by people who think it makes them sound cool, 24/7, when just saying ‘all the time’ is easier with less syllables. people also love to use the word decimate incorrectly, when they mean annihilate, decimate(originally from a Roman form of punishing cowardly or insubordinate troops) really only means 1 in 10, which isn’t quite as bad as annihilate, but it sure does sound good coming out of your mouth, make ya feel all mensa-like and stuff…
By Marcus
March 9, 2007 9:48 AM | Link to this
I think great companies call problems… problems. This overuse of the words “opportunities” and “challenges” drives me nuts. Another one we LOVE around here is “visibility.”
“If you’re facing challenges in executing against our short-term or long-term goals, please raise those issues to management so that they have visibility and we can focus on solution-driven opportunities.”
WTF!?!?! You AIN’T said NOTHING!
By D
March 9, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this
oh yeah, and don’t forget the idiots that love to use the word ‘eclectic’, you know somebody is a dimwit when they use that one, and if they have a three word name or especially a hyphen in their name, the idiot factor greatly multiplies. the new one is ‘sycophant’ it sounds like you know something, but I think it came from petty little whiners complaining about being sexually harassed by someone using the word ‘suck’ in ‘suck-up’.
By dj
March 9, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this
“Skin in the game” is a new one at my firm. It’s my most recent least favorite.
By fer
March 9, 2007 9:55 AM | Link to this
I don’t work for Kroger — I just shop there a couple of times a week. But the employees must get sick of “Attention, Kroger employees, have you seen Bob?”
By Hunter
March 9, 2007 9:57 AM | Link to this
Ugh…how about “keep us whole” — that one gets thrown around here a lot when talking about vendor contract issues. Another one that drives me absolutely nuts is “touch base” and of course we can’t forget the good old standard of “level set” as in “let’s talk offline about level setting the expectations on how our vendor is going to keep us whole during this current situation”.
By Karen
March 9, 2007 10:07 AM | Link to this
“I will shoot you an e-mail.” “Just shoot me an e-mail.”
Makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. You don’t shoot e-mail, you send it.
By Susan
March 9, 2007 10:12 AM | Link to this
Who started on yesterday, on today, and on tomorrow? I groan a little louder and longer each time I hear them.
By CC
March 9, 2007 10:36 AM | Link to this
“in and of itself”….and it’s b******* cousin: “it goes without saying”…please folks, just get to the point, the sooner you shut up the better…
By Fanatic
March 9, 2007 11:52 AM | Link to this
Low hanging fruit?!? (Laugh cry complete with tears!!)
Let me tell you people, I came to work in a baaaaad mood on today (hahahahahaha!!!!), but this has certainly gotten me to think outside the box (pounding desk laughing!) about being a team player (holding my gut ‘cause I can’t take it anymore)! I’m going to shift my paradigm (falling out of my chair!) after lunch and dive right into my next opportunity (almost wetting myself)!
Ahhhhhahahahahahahahahaha!! ROFLMAO!!
By Nobody
March 15, 2007 1:17 PM | Link to this
How about hearing a conversation that always ends with “you get my point.”
No. I don’t.