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"Corporate Buzzwords" in English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5837 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes  Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 25 of 34 12 January 2010 at 11:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's it exactly. I can't believe I was taken in by it for so long, lol!! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ericspinelli Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5782 days ago 249 posts - 493 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Korean, Italian | Message 26 of 34 13 January 2010 at 1:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
"An elephant in the room" and "a white elephant" are two different phrases. The former means, as you said, an unmentioned issue while the latter refers to something whose cost or upkeep is greater than its value. A white elephant is also often hard to get rid of. A "pink elephant," though sometimes used in the phrase "the pink elephant in the room" can also be a reference to the effects of delirium tremens, an adverse consequence of alcohol abuse (and also a very tasty beer). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6581 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 27 of 34 13 January 2010 at 2:55pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think a lot of the bile thrown at "corporate buzzwords" is misdirected. Most of this stuff is simply synonyms and the claim that they "don't mean anything" is just not true. "touch base", "the big picture", "shoot an email", "bulletproof" etc. are expressions that certainly have meaning and communicative value. And saying that "you shouldn't say it like that because there's already another way to say it" doesn't really work in a synonym-rich language like English.
These expressions are part of a subculture, just like hip-hopers and role-playing gamers have their own expressions. What I suspect is going on is that a lot of people really hate their jobs and especially despise their superiors (a very common and human thing to do). The language associated with the job and the superiors will naturally then become an object of contempt, as well. Thus the vitriol directed at "corporate buzzwords". This is not to say that people in corporate America don't do a lot of talk without actually saying anything; I'm sure they do. But this is unrelated to the words they're using. You can do that without using buzzwords. Politicians seldom use corporate buzzwords and they manage to say little with a lot of words anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6121 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes 22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 28 of 34 13 January 2010 at 5:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
Yes, that's the worst use of language. When you use language to make something that hurts people sound like a good thing. Some companies a while back were calling layoffs "right-sizing" as if all the people they laid off were somehow "wrong." I despised that term. Some companies now are calling it being "displaced." How innocent, "Oops, you got displaced--sorry." Edited by JW on 13 January 2010 at 5:25pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5966 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 29 of 34 13 January 2010 at 5:25pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yes, the "pink elephant" is a phrase I remember in connection with alcohol abuse or other addition/abuse issues; no, I don't personally have a connection with these problems, but I worked in healthcare for many years, where a large part of the patient population did. The saying must have made its way into the business/administrative area also.
Good point about business subculture and its particular expressions--maybe buzzwords are more a social phenomenon than a linguistic one. But people who really care about language are a subculture of sorts, too, and can be especially sensitive to the usage of words, maybe in ways that others are not. I don't mean that's always a good thing, but if you study language you will notice how the people around you use it. I felt very disgruntled, too, in some of my jobs, and very unhappy with the roles I had to assume for work that just didn't seem right, but now--as much as I love to study words, as much as I care about language, I am ready now to sell out completely and say any words anyone wants, because there's a lot of serious shit that I really do need! (medicine and other necessities, to keep my home, etc.) All this feels different after prolonged underemployment, countless job rejections, etc. I was OK working for myself for a few years but reentering the general job market has been very hard. And independent employment is extremely isolating--you really do start to miss having co-workers and just want to talk to anyone, about anything, even if it is in business-speak buzzwords! (of course, I'd probably change my mind about this in two minutes again, back in an office!) Well, anyway, the buzzwords are good for a laugh, sometimes! You just have to look at the big picture . . . um, did I just SAY that ? ! ? Am I person of shifty principles? And yes, the elephant of indeterminate color is certainly in the room--I forgot that part!--after all, an elephant out on the savanna is all well and good, but in the room: serious trouble! Someone really ought to say something . . . 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6150 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 30 of 34 13 January 2010 at 6:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
I think when role-playing gamers entered the jobs market, we ended up with Webmaster as a job title. Though I've done this role myself, I always felt I should wear a cloak to meetings. Hi, I'm John, and I'm in sales. Behold, I'm Daragh, your Webmaster. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lynxrunner Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States crittercryptics.com Joined 5921 days ago 361 posts - 461 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish*, French Studies: Russian, Swedish, Haitian Creole | Message 31 of 34 14 January 2010 at 2:30am | IP Logged | |||||
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"I'm Daragh, and I'm your webmaster."
As a computer geek, webmistress, and all-around video game nerd, this made me laugh a lot, if only because I wish I could do this. "Why are you in a cloak?" "Shut up, fool, I'm the webmaster." Anyway, I'm surprised that so many of these words are corporate in origin! I've always heard "the big picture" as in, "Quit focusing on the details and look at everything", I've definitely heard "Step up to the plate" and "Be a team player". I've heard "Let's raise up this flag and see if people will salute" and even "Let's chuck a few into the green and see if we get a hole in one", though admittedly those two came from a part of a book mocking such silly metaphors. "Urban Amish" and "News Snackers" have become my new favorite English expressions. I must develop new synergies with them. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| xylophagous Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5435 days ago 29 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 32 of 34 14 January 2010 at 7:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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I've always hated "blue sky thinking" - that there are no limits in whatever thoughts/proposals someone wants to suggest.
Also, "brain storm" has now been replaced by "thought shower", as is that wasn't bad enough already. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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