Buzz is, Like, Totally All the Rage
So I peaked in the Topic Pool just now, for the first time in… well, you can tell how long it’s been. But seriously, keep contributing… Anyway, how about this suggestion for annoying buzz words? I gripe constantly about buzz words & phrases that are work-related, so what the hey-hey, why not do my griping here?
So to spell it out, the category is Annoying Buzz Words.
Okay, just to feed the insomnia, here’s a are few work ones that come to mind:
- Make that an “action item”
- As we work to “grow” our service…
- “Capture that”
- Let’s take this “off-line”
Okay, that’s all that’re stickin out at the moment. More to come, that’s for sure…
“persons”/”individuals” (has “people” fallen out of favor because folks giggle when “pee” is said, or what?)
“proactive”
“race card” (for example, the Jack of Caucasoids)
“church plant”
not a buzzword as such, but I’m pretty sick of hearing about the Brokeback Mountain
after it (brokeback) wins an oscar are you going to watch it? i sure as heck ain’t.
I want you to “spearhead” this project. Spearhead? What the?? Sounds like something you do in the jungle.
using “non” unnecessarily in a sentence, like “He’s been a nonfactor in this game” instead of “He hasn’t been a factor in this game.”
The popularity of “Git ‘backward R’ Dun” is fairly annoying. But then again, I have hillbillyphobia (I’m literally afraid of them. Stay away from me, Van Norman).
On a somewhat-related item, David Spade’s impersonation of Jeff Foxworthy is money.
“wrongheaded”
“diversity champion”
Okay, this isn’t a buzz word by any stretch of the imagination, but the whole slapping hands (what we older folks call “giving five”) with your closed fist instead of your open palm… Yeah, I don’t do that. I can’t stand that. To the point where I stop the other person & say, no, I don’t do that. I know it’s not cool to leave someone hangin when they’re goin for a high-five, hand shake or whatever — & I do offer an old school alternative shake of their choice — but I just can’t be a part of this. It’s like the short-lived forearm slap. Please, people. Just stop.
I’m down with “hitting the rock”
If i ever ask you to hit the rock you better do it!!!
Her is a list of educational buzzwords that are getting old:
best practices
child centered
High-order thinking
multiple intelligences
portfolio assessment
Overused: “Appropriate”
“organic” in album reviews….what does this mean? fertilizers weren’t used? it incorporates organ music?
Here are some “disorders” that therapists are coming up with…. keep in mind, these weren’t “disorders” when we were growing up…..
“Oppositional Defiance Disorder”……this is where a kid won’t listen to anyone in authority. Back in the day, these were called spoiled brats.
“Attention Deficit Disorder”…..this is where a kid cannot pay attention. Back in the day, these were just hyper kids that had too much sugar or pop before class, ie Alex Hall (“Hawkeye”)
I could go on and on…
by “fertilizer” I mean “pesticides”
That’s a good point, Darren. It’s almost like it’s just one more way to shift the blame for poor behavior off the child. & is it me, or is *every* kid ADD now? Seriously, it’s called Pixie Stix & Pepsi. They should cross-reference a kid’s dental records before bothering to diagnose…
I read something interesting on the Internets the other day. It was a study that related how much attention kids were paid to how likely/severe was their ADD. Essentially, kids that were picked up all the time when they were fussy or who were attended to with every outburst ended up being more likely/more severely impacted by ADD.
The crux of the paper: if kids never had to deal with anything undesirable for too long prior to school, when school gets boring they expect it to be taken away. They have no patience for things that up until then their parents had dealt with for them.
Bad parents suck.
The bottom one not only uses an annoying buzzword, it sounds a little dirty.
http://www.kcm.org/store/display.php3?cat=3
Sigh…
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462395/
dialogue (v.)
“Hidey-hole”…Sorry, if I’m the only one who thinks so, I’ll cheerfully retract it.
ilike hidey hole
You hear this from a lot of people do you, Scott? Or have I, on my own, officially made it a buzz word? That is so fetch.
I recently went to a meeting where someone used both “critical path” and “10X return” in the same sentence.
Yeah, it’s original, but I think one use was plenty. But I’ll defer to Kevin.
Not a buzzword, but I can’t stand McDonald’s use of “McGriddles” as a singular noun.
Speaking of Mean Girls, Gretchen Wieners belongs in the best name thread.
issues
pimp (v.)
I’d like to fight the person who coined the phrase “soundtrack of our lives”
Referring to a team’s fans as “______ Nation”
x factor
______ solutions (for example, IT solutions or meal solutions, as if every company who provides a good or service is solving a problem)
Good Samaritan (not necessarily a buzzword, but it’s used whenever someone does something nice for a stranger. I think it cheapens that parable to take it out of the Jew/Samaritan context and use it for any Stranger/Stranger combo.)
I have something to confess: last week in a mtg I used the word “engage” twice. As in “do we need to engage (name of group) to accomplish that?” Yeah, it’s functional, but I’m pretty sure I said it b/c it’s a business buzz word & it’s been ingrained in my head.
Here’s a ticker from Tim and Eric’s website. I think it “captures” what this thread is all about.
über-
“don’t work too hard”
“mary mary quite contrary”
“please use a butterfly needle”
“could you give me anesthesia before giving me that iv”
“fibromyalgia”
“I’m Bi-Polar” , “….was recently diagnosed as suffering from Bi-Polar disorder.”
“Let’s form a committee.” It seems at my new job we have a committee to decide when we should think about having a new committee. It drives me batty.
We have a committee on commitees committee at my church. They are a committee responsible for filling all the other committees.
I’m sick of hearing people use the word “dichotomy” unnecessarily, like it somehow makes them smart.
usage of the word “Copesetic” makes me want to hurt somebody
I hate improper use of technical terms. As in “cyber” anything, mostly.
Cyber is abbreviated “cybernetic”. This means the merging of anatomy, biology and technology. So that’s like cyborgs (think robo-cop). And “cyber threats” means that robocop is shooting at you. It doesn’t mean that a virus is on your computer. There’s no creatures living in there.
In other news, music that introduces something is called an “Intro”. That’s fine, sure. But there is no such thing as an “outroduction”, and therefore a closing tune cannot be called an “outro”. Morons. (there is a word “outro” in Portugese, which means “other”, but I’m not giving marketing types that kind of credit. Outro is not a word, move along).
“thought leadership”
“chipotle”
I heard “diving catch” no less than 12 times today. Apparently any time someone makes a “save” to any degree it is a “diving catch.”
“Champion” as in “Lisa, thanks for championing this effort” or “Bill, I want you to champion this project.”
“flustrated”
http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php
I’m glad “___ is the new ___” made it. I’d never heard “webinar” but I’m sure once would be plenty.
I hear “webinar” too often.
God knows I hear “wordsmith” frequently, but I kinda like the idea of being a village ’smithy’ of sorts.
“It is what it is” is about the most apathetic thing someone could say. Somebody said that to me in regard to my divorce and I found it borderline offensive.
I have a problem with them saying that “sweet” was popularized by Southpark.
i have no respect for a list that banned the phrase “that’s gay” in 1999
Personally i think banning the phrase that’s gay is gay.
I’m tired of movies claiming that they are “based on a true story”. Every movie is technically based on a true story if it involves humans with any kind of drama. I remember feeling offended when my history teacher in my (christian) high school encouraged all of us to go see Titanic because it was “historically acurate” while at the same time told all of us not to go see Saving Private Ryan. The Titanic was definitely accurate to what has taken place in history, the boat sank and there was yada yada sex.
I’m really tired of hearing the word “sick,” as in crazy, unbelievable, outrageous, etc. “This is sick.” I’ve been watching a lot of poker again lately & hearing that way too much.
Mary said:
Ok, I’m pretty sure I’m going to show my ignorance here, but was Saving Private Ryan based on events in actual people’s lives? I thought it was fictional people set against a historically accurate setting much in same way Titanic was. I feel like I should remember one way another, but the only image that really sticks with me is the soldier on the beach looking around for something and then picking p his own arm. Holy cats, that movie traumatized me.
Or were you just saying you’re offended by craptastically overwrought drama? Because I can support that 100%.
I think the “historical accuracy” of the two storylines are prob about the same, although I really don’t care enough to look up anything. With SPR I think they went w/ bits of history and formed their main storyline.
Yeah, that opening beach scene is pretty much the reason I don’t watch war movies anymore. I kinda realized that experiencing battle recreations on that level isn’t (and shouldn’t be) entertaining.
I think this is a rather large overstatement. And I of all ppl know more about overstatements than anyone else in the world.
I kinda like IBM’s latest series of commercials, which essentially say stop talking & start doing (meaning cut the business speak and start doing some actual business). They have one out now that uses the ol “buzzword bingo.” Here’s a generator for you folks stuck in corporate world.
Someone should make a generator for the presidential debates. That could be fun.
Bill says:
I’ll still watch stuff like that, but I don’t lump it into the purely entertainment category. That’s for stuff like The 40 Year Old Virgin or Starship Troopers. Movies are like any other art form, and I think the best the medium has to offer will always make you walk away feeling *something*. It doesn’t always have to be a pleasant something for it to be worthwhile.
Stinky said:
That’s pretty much why I don’t kill bugs anymore. I’m afraid that they’ll develop a super-advanced hive mentality and our only hope of survival will be to do what Neil Patrick Harris tells us to.
I grow weary of every fun event being called [insert word here]palooza.
Giving back to the community
something being described as “[similar thing] on steroids”
This may be the gayest thing I’ve ever heard of (no offense gays).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexitarian
Maybe I’m making too much of this, but it seems so pharisaical, like “I’m not perfect (completely free of meat) but I’m a lot better than you jerks who eat a lot of meat!” Because it has to be a question of virtue, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t make a label for yourself. I happen to dislike fish, but it’s not that I think it’s wrong to eat fish, so I’m not going to go around calling myself a nonichthytarian.
Let’s just drop all the feelings toward eating and just make it a completely neutral thing. Let’s not take pride in what we eat or don’t eat, and let’s not use terms like “guilt-free” or “sinless” in culinary terms either, as if eating something unhealthy is such an immoral thing.
Well, it is a question of virtue for anyone who believes it is wrong (or at least not necessary) to end the life of an animal for food. They’ll compromise for pragmatic reasons, but not for indulgent reasons.
I don’t have a problem with the concept, only that there’s a term for it. Kind of like how nearly every single ache or ailment is now an offical disease in the New England Journal of Medicine.
I don’t know that it’s a buzzword, but I’ve grown increasingly annoyed with the term “person of faith.” If it means “Christian”, then I think we can just say “Christian” and “non-Christian” if necessary. If it means “person of any religion”, then I don’t know if it does any good, because despite what some folk believe, religions are not all the same (not even close). And even if they were, I don’t think we need a dividing line between those who belong to a religion and those who don’t. Because it’s not that clear-cut. An atheist may be just as much a “person of faith” (or more) as someone who calls himself a Buddhist, but only to be hip. That faith may be in any number of things…his self, his family, his money, the earth…just not a god. And while I would suggest that there’s more to life than any of those things, I don’t think we need to use labels to separate anyone from anyone else, because we’re pretty much all in the same boat of trying to seek the truth and find meaning and purpose.
I totally agree with you Scott. If you really want to get deep about it (where’s Chris?), we are all people of faith. I have “faith” that this chair is going to hold me up when I sit on it. I have “faith” this reply will get posted to Bill’s website.
I think I’ll try the Buddhist-to-be-hip idea.
I think we’re talking about different definitions of the word. What we think of as “the Christian faith” is not the same as “faith that this chair won’t break when I sit in it.”
And no, I don’t like the term “person of faith” either, but I also don’t think that religious faith is reserved for Christianity. “The Islamic faith” is every bit as correct a term as “the Christian faith.”
I think this is just another way to lump people into a broad category of those who practice (right word?) a faith but without specifying which, whether it’s meant to group together people who don’t subscribe to the same faith but do “believe” in one, or even to label individuals who haven’t quite figured out which particular faith they follow but probably do follow something. This is no different than saying a “religious person” or a “spiritual person,” both of which annoy me equally. But I do think this term describes those who are “religious,” and so it wouldn’t apply to atheists. (Their having “faith” that their personal decision that God doesn’t exist is another definition of the word.)
But I can understand the usefulness of being able to describe what kind of person someone is in that regard w/o narrowing it down to which particular religion they follow.
And I think those of us who are Christians should be able to get our heads out of the sand long enough to realize that all dividing lines concerning the world’s religions (whether we agree with them or not) don’t have to be drawn based on whether the religion is Christianity. Yes, concerning our own beliefs, it is very black and white: you’re either a Christian or a non-Christian. But that doesn’t mean that having only those two terms adequately covers the field, even just regarding language. To say that b/c my beliefs groups the world into two categories (either you’re “saved” or you’re not) we shouldn’t have language to break down group number 2 further (b/c ultimately it really doesn’t matter) is ridiculous. (And no, Scott, I’m not saying you suggest this.)
And no, this is not Bill’s version of tolerance. It’s just practicality.
Working with a diverse public on a daily basis I find that believing in God and Christianity is almost synonymous. When I am screening a client and we get to the “spirituality” category, 9 times out of 10 the answer I am given is, “I’m Christian.” When asked to elaborate, I usually get, “I believe in God.”
At other times I get the sense that being American and being a Christian is the same thing.
“workin’ hard or hardly workin?” if one more person says that to me today…
Maybe this goes without saying, but thanks to election coverage “maverick” is officially on the list.
What about in those all-important Top Gun conversations?
I want to ban “it is what it is” and “staycation” from our lexicon.
Golden parachute.
i second the motion that we never use the word maverick to describe someone, esp if you do it more than 500 times in an hour
drink the Kool-Aid
I’ve always thought “upscale” is an annoying buzzword, but using it as an adjective for people is the worst. What does it mean? What is the scale these women are all “up” in? Putting people on non-literal scales is a bad idea.
[Recently deceased] Joe Blow was a good athlete but a better person.
“Obama Nation”
“Baraktopia”
“Barack the vote”
“Baracknaphobia”
Are people being serious when they say this? I mean, do they think the country’s going to be a utopia now? Or does it have something to do with the 90’s beverage “Fruitopia”?
Sometimes my pastor or the ELCA bishop will use the term “people of color”, and it makes me cringe. Caucasians are not all albinos, people!
Which brings me to an anecdote. For Christmas, I got my brother a 50th anniversary “retro-style” Crayola 64 pack, hoping like crazy that it would contain a crayon labeled “flesh”. Unfortunately, Binney and Smith are all about the revisionist history. What’s interesting is that they changed it to “peach” in 1962, but I swear I remember them. I think my parents must have had some old-arse crayons.
Scott, get excited… you can now get packs of construction paper in ’skin tones.’ I found this out when I was working with a child in his preschool program. The teacher wasn’t letting the kids choose what colors they wanted and instead would make comments like “No Bobby, you are much darker than that,” or “Kai you’re Asian which is this color.” Classic preschool memory for these kids. I’m glad I was there to witness it.
Wow, that’s a great story, Julie. This is why I always say that kids and crafts don’t mix.
“Okay class, let’s sort our desks according to the color wheel and then we’ll line up for the drinking fountain.”
And it looks like they have “multicultural crayons” as well:
What a boring selection of colors… Here’s the write-up for them:
“Crayola Multicultural Crayons are expressive crayon colors specially designed for hands-on learning about self, family, and community. Apricot, Burnt Sienna, Mahogany, Peach, Sepia, Tan, and Black and White for blending.”
Black and White for blending… hmm. And how lame that it’s just the same colors that are in other packs. I want to see Crayola’s paperwork for this project b/c you know they had to have some stereotypes spelled out that they used to map this final selection of crayons.
And here is some construction paper like Julie mentioned:
What race is that ashen color? Whose skin looks like that? “No, Timmy, save that piece for the sick boy.”
This is amazing. What is happening in our schools!?
Haha “..save that piece for the sick boy.” Love it.
The lesson lil’ Barry Obama learns is that his skin is gray. Now that I think about it, though, I don’t think that it even works to blend crayons.
I can’t stand when people take a political buzzword and apply it to their own lives as a lame little mockery of “those clowns in Washington”:
“Where’s *my* bailout?”
“As part of *our* stimulus package, [such and such restaurant] now has tiny hamburgers for only $1.39!”
“I didn’t inhale!”
“I’d like to Smoot-Hawley *that* tariff”.
“Snowmageddon”
it didn’t take long for this one to get old, it is snow f-ing stupid
green (v.)
Wow. I had to look at old posts to make sure green (v.) wasn’t on here already. It should definitely make the list. Good call Scott.
racial profiling
1) it can be a person of any race who is thought to be here illegally, so it’s not profiling
2) even if it was only Latinos that are being targeted, the census has taught us that Latino is not a race