30 Common And Not-So-Common Corporate Lingo Folks Online Hate With A Passion

The thread got 17.7k upvotes and nearly 9k people had something to say. While some redditors were sharing the words and phrases that they often hear that they are sick of hearing, others just joined the rage and let out their frustrations.

It is quite evident that people are seriously fed up with those phrases, but Bored Panda wanted to explore the topic even more and got in touch with Boniwe Dunster, an HR specialist and director and founder of Blue Eagle Human Capital Practice.

She explained to us why people could dislike such language coming from colleagues or management: “Employees don’t like corporate jargon or buzzwords because it often makes them feel inferior or out of place, especially if they are not part of the circle who abuses these words. Sometimes if one does not use such words, they are deemed not to be smart enough and that cannot be a measure of intelligence or performance standards. Some phrases are often complex and industry-specific, so if one is new in the industry or profession they will struggle to adjust.”

We also got in touch with Lexy Boahene, the HR specialist of LX HR Solutions and she had a similar opinion, "Some of those phrases are ambiguous, provide an unrealistic view or approach and some phrases are condescending."

Also, it might be that employees feel the ingenuity that comes with those phrases, as Boniwe Duster reveals that managers or HR specialists don’t always mean what they say, “they mostly use them to sound smart in meetings in front of juniors or show their peers or seniors that they are part of the circle. You’d find someone abusing the phrase 'high performance' but you'll hardly see people being taken to task for poor results or held accountable for delivery, which is a contradiction.”

Lexy Boahene says has a slightly different view, "We mean them because that's what we came to inherent at the company or that's what we have inherited in other companies we've worked in and therefore using them. However, we ourselves don't necessarily believe in them."

What is more, people who use that jargon that employees don’t like hearing most probably know how that way of speaking is perceived, but continue using it anyway. There could be several reasons for that and HR professional Boniwe Duster mentions that people might “use them to sound smart and as a way to create a distinction between the old and new entrants in the profession/market, sometimes people continue to use them because they do not know any better; they have been groomed and mentored under such environments.”

The other HR specialist, Lexy Boahene thinks that thinking that everyone hates such phrases is an assumption and it is not always known that employees don't like hearing such jargon if it's not said explicitly, but if that comes up, the person using it should try talking in a different way.

We know how employees don’t want to be talked to, but it is possible to be professional and seem smart by using regular human language. Boniwe Duster would like to advise managers, other HR specialists and corporate representatives “to be considerate of others' backgrounds in the work environment, be more inclusive in their engagements and create openness and psychological safety.“