What piece of jargon would you like to see thrown into the linguistic trash can?

By ⋅ April 27, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

An association of local government leaders in Britain has compiled a list of banned jargon. These are words and phrases that the association says must be avoided in order to “communicate effectively”.

Discussion

27 comments for “What piece of jargon would you like to see thrown into the linguistic trash can?”

  • Anonymous

    How about let’s kill off “thinking outside the box”? It was hot in the 80′s and that nonsense is still being bandied about.

  • Anonymous

    “Jumping the shark.” It’s cool and all, but overused.

  • Anonymous

    There’s now a new one you can use: “Nuking the fridge”
    (It’s a reference to the most recent Indiana Jones movie)

  • PhilipHarris

    “I can’t”
    There are limits, you know”
    “Are you retarded?”
    “because I said so”
    “NO WAY”

  • Lightningbug

    I’m really annoyed by ‘Git ‘er done!’ Unfortunately, I hear it used every day almost. You think it would have worn off by now in popularity, but I live in Utah. It happens.

  • jeffreyaday

    On the ground.

  • thegnoles

    The entire phrase “President Obama’s giant stimulus package” always turns my thoughts so far from the economy…it’s downright distracting! I’m done with it! It used to make me laugh, now my eyes are rolling. Media, please! Find another way to phrase it already!!!!!!

  • andypenick

    Two really: “It won’t be overnight” & “we’re not out of the woods yet”, in regards to the economy, like we really expected the deepest recession half a centry to be overnight. This is the inverse equivalent to “Mission Accomplished”

  • trevorbryden

    Talking points and Spin. Words enter the English language and exit. Some words and expressions continue to be used long after the source has been forgotten. The use of ‘drinking the cool aid’ is a case in point. Some expression that I have studied are over 1000 years old. My particular pair of words is not ones that should go out of the English language so much as they should be taken in more negative context. ‘Talking Points’ is an euphemism for propaganda. If a politician or a political spokesperson should resort to ‘talking points’ then we should all accept that in a skeptical or even negative way. The use of ‘spin’ is even worse. If someone decides to add a positive spin on a negative story it is simply a nicer way of saying that they are lying. We can’t throw words or expressions out of a language. If they will die out we must simply wait for that to happen. We also have to mindful of our definitions. With ‘talking points’ and ‘spin’ I simply wish to see them defined more accurately.

  • miaone

    I’m really tired of “going forward” when the speaker means “in the future”. Also, I find “on the ground” odd and overused. It seems to occur most often in newscasts, as in, “There are x number of troops on the ground.” I always wonder where else they would be.

  • eablackford

    It’s a toss-up between “the way forward” and “leveraging technology” (which should have died by now).

  • Paudro

    “Shovel ready” should be banned. Projects should be evaluated on merit, not how quickly they could be started.

  • bluepopper

    “Nothing could be further from the truth.” It always makes me think, really? Nothing at all?

    “I could care less.” The speaker always means the opposite, i.e., that he or she could NOT care less.

  • Suze E

    “in this day and age”

  • cjgermany

    Like I’m really tired of people saying like. Like you know I mean like?

  • nrcbtm1

    This may not be jargon per se, but I have noticed scientists initiating their answers to questions with an inappropriate interjection of “so.” It seems to have replaced the audible pauses of “er” and “uh”. Example:
    Q. What is your area of expertise?
    A. So, I am a geologist.
    Q. What do you do as a geologist?
    A. So, I use sound waves to find discontinuities in the earth below ground.
    Q. How does that work?
    A. So, sound waves of will echo back when they reach a sudden change in density.

  • mariacure

    I would abandon “bring to the table ”
    I just hate that..

  • momey badwon

    “It’s a no-brainer…”

    I’ll bet the person who says it operates on the practice most of the time.

    I’ve also heard more than I care to of the tag line “…so you don’t have to.”

  • billhink

    shock and awe

  • ccjmodsl@embarqmail.com

    I am tired of the term “Moving Forward” and especially “At the end of the day”. Nothing wrong with “in the future” or “Finally”. Last but not lease “You know” If I knew, you wouldn’t have to be telling me!….Thanks for hearing me out.
    ccj

  • jhillr64

    It’s a long list, but it begins with two extremely annoying entries: “Same difference”, and “irregardless”. After that the word “like” has come to mean what a silent pause used to mean…why so afraid of simple silence between thoughts? It has also come to mean “I said” or to describe a wordless reaction “I was like, no way.” We are getting dumber by the day.

  • gleninchi

    Most of my least favorite phrases come from working in an insurance agency. One of our producers cannot seem to master the phrase “please call…”. He constantly uses “reach out to” which just sounds so pompous. I agree with everyone who wants to scrap “think outside the box” and “moving forward”.

  • falphoenix

    PLEASE stop saying ‘look’ when making a point on the radio!!! Where exactly am I supposed to look? Y’all are talking to me – if you have to say something, say LISTEN!

  • slowtaxi

    OK . . . two items of concern here. First, the expression “it is what it is”. Could you be a bit more vague please? Granted, perception is often misinterpreted as reality, however, this expression-is it in opposition to “it is what it appears to be”? I don’t quite get it. Secondly, the term “viable” as in “a viable solution” or “viable alternative”. If they weren’t viable, is it not the case that they would be either a solution or an alternative?

  • DB

    You can grow beans and you can grow radishes but you don’t “grow” an economy or an education system.

    Thirty-some years ago, John Dean testified about “that point in time.” Since then, no one who speaks for government remembers the word “then” for “that point in time,” and the word “now” for “this point in time.”

  • Julie in Alaska

    I am very weary of the constant use of “sort of” in every context. Often, to make a major point, it is weakened by the insertion of “sort of.” For example, someone might say, “It’s sort of imperative that action is taken if more people are to be included under Medicare.”

    And I also have noted the officials in the Obama White House and outside the White House starting their explanations with the word “Look,” which I think comes directly from the President, who uses it a lot! Sounds a bit arrogant to me, as if to say, “Look, you idiot, I will go over it more slowly and perhaps this time you will understand!”

  • SchadenfreudianSlip

    I wish media organizations would police their unretrenchant use of what I consider verbal ticks; phrase-habits delivered by an erstwhile-respected quasi-journalist, such as

    1. “The fact of the matter.” According to whom?
    2. “At the end of the day.”
    3. “Going forward” [allergic to saying "in the future?"]
    4. Granular. Grrrrr…it’s “detail” a-holes.
    5. “Bandwidth”
    6. “Human capital.” Nothing says dehumanizing humans by referring to them as a commodity. After all–in one of the most deliciously ironic aphorisms of all time–”people are our most important resource.”

    Going forward, I’ll provide granularity concerning the bandwith required to plan and execute strategic human capital plans.