Corporate Jargon: Study Reveals the Most Annoying Office Buzzwords

This study was originally published by Preply. If you are interested in the full report, click here.

We spend around one-third of our waking hours at work - that’s often more time than we spend asleep or hanging out with our family and friends. So, it’s no wonder that workplaces tend to develop their own languages. 

Workplace jargon can help streamline our jobs and bond us to our colleagues, but sometimes it just gets on our nerves. So which buzzwords can we expect to hear in 2023 and which do we hope to never hear again? 

To find out, we surveyed 1,002 people and asked them about their perceptions of office buzzwords. 

Key Findings

“Vibe” was voted the most annoying word Gen Z brings to the office, and “circle back” is the phrase we all want to eliminate. 

Slightly more than 1 in 4 people report hearing corporate buzzwords multiple times a day.

The corporate jargon people find most annoying in a job posting is “like a family.”

How do Americans feel about corporate jargon?

While not everyone loves corporate jargon, it seems to have found a home outside the office. In fact, a majority (58%) of Americans admit to using buzzwords in their private life at least sometimes. Whether it’s business idioms or popular slang, buzzwords make their way into all parts of our lives.

“FYI” is the one term people say above all others, with a whopping 81% using it at home. Around 2 in 3 people use the expressions “at the end of the day” (65%), win-win (64%), and “touch base” (63%) when not at work. 

Which buzzwords do people leave behind at the office? Only 11% of people use “on my radar” in their personal lives, and 10% say “ducks in a row.” A paltry 8% admit to using the expression “deep dive'' on their own time.

While buzzwords can show up in all sorts of communication, they most often appear in an email (38%), in person (29%), and in instant messages (24%).  

The most and least annoying corporate jargon

Buzzwords can If you want to discuss something later, just say so directly - unless you want to get on your coworkers’ nerves. On our list of most annoying corporate jargon, “circle back” took the #1 spot, “let’s table this” took 4th, and “put a pin in it” took 6th. For a complete look, check out the top ten list of most annoying buzzwords.

1. Circle back

2. Work hard, play hard

3. Boots on the ground 

4. Let's table this

5. Synergy

6. Put a pin in it 

7. Get ducks in a row

8. Low-hanging fruit

9. Reinvent the wheel

10. Throw it up and see what sticks

To see where your favorite phrases land, take a look at our top 10 list of least annoying buzzwords: Fortunately, some corporate buzzwords don’t seem to bother us at all. “Sync” (#1) came in as the least annoying workplace jargon, and terms that describe people working together also appear to be universally approved. 

1. Sync

2. Pushback

3. Pipeline

4. Level set

5. Have in back pocket

6. Window of opportunity 

7. Loop in 

8. Align

9. Take offline

10. On the same page

Buzzwords you should keep off of job postings

If you’re tasked with writing a job posting at work, you might want to steer clear of jargon. While 43% of Americans say it makes no difference in how they perceive the prospective employer, 55% view buzzwords in job postings negatively. 

Only 2% say it makes the job appealing, and nobody says jargon makes them very eager to apply.

Employees might spend more time with coworkers than their own family, but they don’t want to be reminded in a job listing. The number-one corporate expression that people dislike in a job posting is “like a family” (38%). 

As it turns out, people also dislike thinking about the stress of their potential new job, as “fast-paced environment” (37%), “hustle” (24%) and “work hard, play hard” (23%) also made the top 10. Snappy job titles appear to do little to help: “rockstar” (36%), “guru” (28%), and “ninja” (26%) made the top 5 most annoying buzzwords. 

The most annoying modern buzzwords

Since the phrase “new normal” is typically associated with a crisis - and the recent pandemic in particular - it makes sense that people don’t want to hear about it anymore. 

An overwhelming 42% of people surveyed chose the term “new normal” as the most annoying new buzzword of the year. In distant 2nd and 3rd place are “lean in” (18%) and “hop on a call” (16%).

So what words do the youngest workers prefer? More than any other, Gen Z likes to say “vibe” in the workplace (and probably outside of it as well). If you have young people in your office, get ready to hear these other top 5 words in 2023: “no cap,” “bet,” “lit,” and “basic.” 

Just be careful. Even buzzwords get their meanings changed, and sometimes Gen Z buzzwords are used ironically. So if a Gen Z coworker suggests that your office party is “going to be lit,” it might not be a good thing.

Older employees like to use metaphors in their work jargon (military, sports, and more). When working with boomers, you will no doubt hear their #1 office expression: “ducks in a row.” 

If you’ve spent any time with people of that age, you’re already likely familiar with the other top 5 boomer favorites, including “boots on the ground,” “reinvent the wheel,” “think outside the box,” and “wear many hats.”

Conclusion

As the youngest working generation comes on board, we should expect to see “vibe” enter our office chats in 2023. As for retirement, we’re all ready to say goodbye to phrases like “circle back” and “new normal” in the new year. 

If you want to polish your language skills and make sure you’re using the correct corporate terms in the office, tutors at Preply can help. They can help you perfect your business English whether your goal is to get a promotion, or just to understand the latest jargon.

Methodology

On November 30, 2022, we surveyed 1,002 Americans across all 50 states working in an office or remote setting, about their feelings on corporate jargon. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 76 years old and were 49% female, 48% male, and 3% non-binary.