127 Top Business Jargon Examples [And How to Fix Them]

Skilled business writing rejects business jargon. Yet, industry-specific phrases and buzzwords are very commonly used. Even the best writers and business leaders can fall into the jargon trap if they’re not careful.

Fortunately, by using the right perspective, you can revise business buzzwords out of your text or avoid it in the first place. 

This article will highlight the perspective that is needed to easily identify confusing jargon. To start you off on your jargon hunt, we’ve also prepared our list of the top 127 jargon and gobbledygook examples in business writing.

Why Does Business Jargon Exist?

Sadly, the primary reason business writers use too much jargon is everyone else is using it. We learn to write by modeling others. Business writing is notorious for corporate lingo. There is even a book that addresses this problem, Why Business People Sound like Idiots.

Meaningless jargon has become so commonplace that the writer does not perceive the term as jargon. Instead, the writer incorrectly sees jargon as an insider-term or in-the-know business dialect. However, this writing ignores the most crucial factor in business writing: the audience.

Jason Fried, the founder of Basecamp and author of Rework, stated, “Jargon is insecurity.” Instead of using strong, clear, words that accurately reflect concepts, we lapse into vague corporate-speak by parroting beaten-to-death jargon.

Science proves this.

To help combat corporate jargon in professional writing we created the Jargon Grader. It’s a simple app that helps you identify and eliminate jargon in your writing. Just paste your text into the application and review the flagged words. Try the Jargon Grader for free [click here].

The Essential Perspective

Jargon is defined as language that is not well understood outside of a specified group. Therefore, useful language for one group could be total jargon to another group.

The only way to know if a term is jargon or not is to put yourself in the shoes of your audience. How well does your reader understand the document topic? An executive in your company is likely familiar with company-wide acronyms. Conversely, a client might be confused by the same acronym.

Jargon or gobbledygook phrases must be revised or placed in a context that makes the idea accessible to the reader. This may mean fully writing out acronyms, explaining terminology, or modifying the content to better orient the reader.

Overused colloquial phrases, such as “at the end of day,” weaken your message. A phrase like this is so beaten to death that it no longer has any resonant meaning. 

"Plain language removes barriers between you and your readers," says Hoa Loranger at the Nielsen Norman Group. "No one has ever complained that a text was too easy to understand."

The “but it sounds nice” Trap

Business writing has a clear purpose. It is generally meant to inform or persuade.

It’s tempting to use impressive-sounding language to persuade the reader of your personal competence in the subject area. It seems like an easy way to demonstrate your knowledge. Plus, you’re including the latest industry terms, which shows what your company knows is on trend. Doesn’t it sound nice?

However, this tactic will often leave the reader confused or ill-informed. Jargon is easy to skim past. Buzz terms are so overused that they have lost real meaning.

A good writer proves their subject area expertise by being able to communicate it to any audience. Audience comprehension of a complex topic is the best proof of your knowledge.

Eliminate jargon in your business writing with our free Jargon Grader tool.

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The Top 127 Jargon and Gobbledygook Examples

1. 110% - Isn’t that just bad math? Exaggeration brings questions to your other numbers.

2. Actionable

3. Agile - Are you using the Agile methodology? If not, you’re using a buzzword.

4. A-ha moment

5. All-hands meeting

6. ASAP - But, when? Specific dates and times create action.

7. At this point in time - Simplicity is bliss. Try: At this point or Now

8. Authentic

9. Back of the envelope - Try: initial estimate or rough calculation

10. Balls in the air

11. Bandwidth - Try: capacity or time

12. Bang for the buck - Easy to promise, but what does it really mean?

13. Banner year

14. Beat the bushes

15. Beef up - Try: reinforce or intensify

16. Best in class

17. Best practices

18. Big bang for the buck

19. Bleeding edge

20. Boil the ocean

21. Boondoggle - Using a cute word for a mistake won’t make the explanation easier.

22. Boots on the ground

23. Brain dump

24. Bring to the table

25. Buck the trend

26. Build capacity

27. Buzzworthy

28. Cast a wider net

29. Change agent

30. Circle back - Try: revisit or discuss later

31. Core competency

32. Corporate values

33. Cradle to grave

34. Crowdsource

35. Crushing it - It may be Gary Vaynerchuk’s favorite phrase, but what does it really mean?

36. Culture fit

37. Deep dive

38. Dialogue

39. Do more with less

40. Drill down - Try: analyze or scrutinize

41. Drink the kool-aid

42. Due diligence

43. Empower

44. End of week

45. Fire fighting

46. First and foremost - You can drop the ‘and foremost’ for a stronger, simpler sentence.

47. Food chain

48. Forward planning - Can one plan backward?

49. Frictionless

50. Game changer

51. Growth hacking

52. Guesstimate

53. Hand holding

54. Hard stop

55. Headwinds - Try: challenges or constraints

56. Hyperlocal

57. Ideation

58. Impact - Everyone loves impact, but it can easily be a fluff word. Give it real meaning.

59. In the black

60. In the loop

61. In today’s world - What other world are we in?

62. Irregardless - Most believe this word is not a word.

63. It's a paradigm shift

64. It is what it is - Why not add “...and I don’t care.”

65. Kick the tires - Try: test or trial

66. Knee deep

67. Land and expand

68. Let's be honest - What is the other option?

69. Leverage

70. Lipstick on a pig

71. Lots of moving parts

72. Low hanging fruit

73. Magic bullet

74. Make it pop

75. Mission-critical

76. Move the needle - This phrase calls for statistics. Do you have them?

77. New normal

78. On the runway

79. Open the kimono

80. Organic growth

81. Special projects

82. Peel the onion

83. Perfect storm

84. Personal brand

85. Pre-think - Does ‘pre’ add any value here?

86. Productize - Does your audience see this verb as a word?

87. Pull the trigger - Try: initiate or kick-off

88. Raise the bar

89. Reinvent the wheel

90. Reach out

91. Resource intensive

92. Results-oriented - This should be a given.

93. Revolutionize - A rare occurrence stated commonly.

94. Robust

95. Run it up the flagpole

96. Scalability

97. Secret sauce

98. Shovel ready - Try: prepared or simple ready

99. Silver bullet

100. Solutioneering - Be careful of words that didn’t exist last year.

101. Stopgap

102. Strategic partnership - Which partnerships are not strategic?

103. Straw man

104. Summit

105. Survival strategy

106. Sweetheart deal

107. Swimlane

108. Synergy - Perhaps the most infamous jargon term.

109. Table the conversation

110. Tailwinds

111. Take offline

112. Take it to the next level

113. Tee up

114. Test the water - Try: trial or investigate

115. Thought leader - Today, everyone is a thought leader. Use the term thoughtfully.

116. Tiger team

117. Top of mind

118. Touch base - Try: contact or chat

119. Transparent

120. Triage

121. Trim the fat

122. Upstream

123. Value add - value implicitly adds value. If there is no add, there is no value.

124. Vertical

125. Viral

126. War room

127. Where the rubber meets the road - Try: implementation area
     

Note, this list of jargon examples does not include individual company jargon, which must be tracked and translated into everyday business-speak. Only you can navigate and identify your organization’s unique brand of business jargon phrases.

Eliminate your business writing jargon by improving your overall business writing skills.

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