Yet More Bad Business Jargon
Baked in
This is (regrettably) now used to mean something like integral.
Does it have its origin in that vacuous remark by the sometime MP Belinda Stronach about baking ‘a bigger economic pie’ (whatever that was intended to mean)? I don’t know, but please stop talking about things being baked in; you’re a lawyer, not a baker.
C Suite
This was once, I suppose, a fresh way to describe senior management at a company. It is now past its sell-by date.
Flip
Not as in flip your lid but rather flip me an e-mail.
I’ve never liked its suggestion of haste and lack of thought.
Just send (or maybe forward, although I’m not sure it’s that important to make the distinction).
Impactful
No, no, a thousand times no! Use something like forceful or effective instead.
Relatable
Not sure this is a term from the business world, but it’s certainly jargon.
It is used to mean ‘easy to relate to’ (as in My job as an actuary may not be very relatable, but I find it interesting) – so why not just say ‘easy to relate to’?
Relatable is better used to express, neutrally, the ability to be narrated (related), brought into relation with something else or to possess mutual relation.
Stakeholder
This one always makes me think of Dracula.
It’s terribly shopworn – although admittedly a less tired one-word synonym doesn’t come easily to mind.
Start the discussion!