Why we can't stop using corporate jargon
From 'circling back', to 'boiling the ocean' - is it time to put office lingo on mute?
Business Daily · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
Ever been stuck in a meeting drowning in buzzwords? Terms like "synergies", "low-hanging fruit" or "deliverables"?
They're just a few examples of corporate jargon. A lexicon of colourful metaphors, buzzwords and acronyms that you’d never use with friends or family but have become common parlance in the world of international business.
Workplace lingo might serve as a useful industry short-hand, or a way to gel with colleagues, but it can also irritate, obscure meaning or even hide unpleasant truths. And it's more prevalent than ever.
In this episode, we team up with our colleagues at BBC Learning English to explore the origins and purpose of corporate language and why we love to hate it; hearing from workplace culture and linguistics experts, professionals in the City of London, a plain-talking CEO, and some of you - the BBC World Service audience.
(Picture: Business people looking at sticky notes on a glass board as part of an upskill workshop. Credit: Getty Images.)
Presenters: Ed Butler and Pippa Smith Producer: Elisabeth Mahy
Want to learn more about this topic? Click on Related links or go to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/business-jargon/240925