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Gen Z and Millennials unveil the 10 most cringeworthy office jargon
New research shows younger workers are rolling their eyes at dated corporate jargon—here's why.
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If you're someone who often says "take this offline" or "touch base" at work, it might be time to rethink your vocabulary.
A new study conducted by AI transcription tool Notta.ai's research team, which analyzed more than 5,000 Reddit comments from around 100 different subreddits, has revealed the top 10 most-hated pieces of corporate jargon, and the results point to a generational eye-roll from Gen Z and millennial employees.
Topping the list is "circle back," followed by "synergy," "lean," "touch base," and "agile."
Notta's analysis found that these five phrases alone account for more than 40 percent of all complaints related to office buzzwords, according to a Fortune report.
Kiyoto Tamura, the spokesperson and COO of Notta, told Fortune: "This study exposes a disconnect between corporate language and effective communication."
"Terms like 'bandwidth' and 'agile' are now misused outside their original contexts. Meanwhile, traditional business terms like 'synergy' and 'leverage' continue to be among the most annoying jargon used in corporate settings," Tamura told Fortune.
Rounding out the full list of top offenders are “bandwidth,” “leverage,” “reach out,” “low-hanging fruit,” and “take this offline.”
The study also highlighted five particularly quirky phrases that made an impact: “boil the ocean,” meaning to attempt something impossible; “blue-sky thinking,” to brainstorm without limitations; “open the kimono,” to reveal information; “swim lane,” referring to a person or department’s area of responsibility; and “peel back the onion,” which urges a deeper examination of a problem, the report added.
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