When buzzwords turn into a buzzkill

If you’re tired of jargony phrases like the new normal, win-win and think outside the box you’re not alone.

More than one in five people dislike business buzzwords, according to Preply, which polled 1,551 U.S. respondents to determine which business buzzwords and corporate jargon employees love and loathe.

Despite that, more than three in four survey respondents said they use it themselves because they think it makes them sound good.

"I think many workers dislike or are commonly annoyed by the use of jargon and buzzwords in an office setting, but realize that by using them they can sound more professional and help further their career ambitions," says Daniele Saccardi, Campaigns Manager at Preply, an online tutoring platform.

In addition, workers "don’t want to feel left out in not knowing their meaning or being able to use them when appropriate," she said.

The "new normal" topped the Preply list of most annoying business buzzwords. Runners up included "culture," "circle back," and "give 110%." The least annoying buzzwords included "at the end of the day," "debrief" and "sweep the floors."

The Preply survey also found certain words can be red flags in job postings like "wear many hats," "thick skin" and "fast-paced environment."

But even that’s subjective.

Red flags

Janine Nicole Dennis, Chief Innovations Officer at Talent Think Innovations, a Wheatley Heights-based multidisciplinary business strategy firm, says some of the keywords survey respondents cited as least likely to be red flags may indeed be red flags to certain audiences.

For instance, "resilient" was on the list of words least likely to be red flags, but for certain marginalized groups who often already have to be more resilient in the workplace, this can be a red flag, says Dennis. Also listed was "sense of humor," which for "neurodivergent" persons "whose cognitive processing and behaviors lie outside of what society considers the norm," such as people with Asperger’s syndrome, may be a red flag, she says.

That doesn’t mean you can’t use buzzwords, but do some research to "see if some of these words you want to use get into a gray area of offending certain groups of people," Dennis says.

Saman Talib, an associate professor and chair of the professional communications department at Farmingdale State College, says it comes down to knowing your audience.

But also don’t assume companies that use some of the keywords red flagged in the Preply survey weren’t doing so intentionally to find the best fit for their own firm, she says.

For example, "thick skin" was listed as a red flag in a job posting, but Talib says maybe the company that used that knows their company culture requires a "thick skin."

She suggests companies be aware of these and other industry buzzwords and when creating a job post, imagine the one person who might have the characteristics of your ideal candidate and write a job description based on what you're trying to tell them.

Jargon still has its place

That doesn’t mean you need to eliminate buzzwords and jargon.

In fact, "jargon is immensely important," says Zachariah C. Brown, a professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who published extensive research on jargon with co-authors Adam Galinsky and Eric Anicich when he was a PhD student at Columbia Business School.

Brown describes jargon "as the middle ground between technical terms and slang."

It "essentially can serve as a status signal," and like other status signals "if people feel insecure they’ll rely on it to feel part of the group," says Brown.

On the plus side, it’s a signal of expertise and can establish credibility. But you have to use it with the appropriate people or it can lead to miscommunication or be perceived as annoying, he says.

Know your audience

For instance, if a boss uses it or someone within the same professional category, like an accountant speaking to another accountant, it can be OK, he says. But Brown’s research has found it’s more annoying if, say, your co-worker uses it because it can be perceived as "a bid for status." Likewise, it's not good to use within a group unfamiliar with your jargon/buzzwords, such as that same accountant speaking to the marketing department.

"If you use jargon well, I don’t even notice it and you may appear competent, up to date and professional," Brown says. "It’s when it seems to be overdone or viewed to be used for manipulative reasons that it’s annoying."

It’s all about striking a balance, says Michael Frenda, vice president/area director at Dale Carnegie Training in Hauppauge, a global leadership and training organization, which teaches effective communication and human relations skills.

"Are you able to communicate effectively with someone using that phrase?," he says. "If it works that’s a good thing."

If it’s something that impedes good communication then that’s an area to focus on improvement, he says.

You’re never going to eliminate jargon/buzzwords completely, Frenda says.

"It’s a waste of time to try," he says.