These Are The Top Most Hated (And Most Liked) Business Buzzwords

In the workplace, employees and people managers use a distinctive type of corporate jargon that can sound like a lot while meaning very little. These buzzwords can appear in emails, meetings, and conversations.

Buzzwords are common in the workplace, but a lot of people hate many of them. In addition, some buzzwords are so bad that if people see them in a job ad, some won’t bother to apply. Those are some findings from our recent survey of 1,551 American office workers.

Business jargon is at times a necessary evil, with three out of four respondents saying it can make a person sound more professional, but that doesn’t mean people love every snappy catchphrase exchanged between coworkers.

Here are the best and worst business buzzwords to use at work in 2022:

10 most frequently used business buzzwords

1. Win-win
2. Culture (e.g., “Company culture”)
3. ASAP (as soon as possible)
4. Think outside the box
5. Moving forward/going forward
6. Circle back
7. It’s on my radar
8. On the same page
9. Bring to the table
10. New normal

10 most annoying business buzzwords

1. New normal
2. Culture (e.g., “Company culture”)
3. Circle back
4. Boots on the ground
5. Give 110%
6. Low-hanging fruit
7. Win-win
8. Move the needle
9. Growth hacking
10. Think outside the box

10 least annoying business buzzwords:

1. At the end of the day
2. Debrief
3. Sweep the floors
4. SMB (Small and mid-size business)
5. Table this
6. B2C (Business-to-consumer)
7. Blue sky thinking
8. Ideate
9. Game changer
10. Teamwork/Teambuilding/Team players

10 terms most likely to be red flags in job descriptions:

1. Rockstar
2. Wear many hats
3. Thick skin
4. Work hard, play hard
5. Schedule TBD
6. Urgently hiring
7. Ninja
8. Hit the ground running
9. Fast-paced environment
10. Overachiever

10 terms least likely to be red flags in job descriptions:

1. Proactive
2. Empower
3. Leverage
4. Lots of perks and benefits
5. Proven track record
6. Resilient
7. Fun/Amazing/Unique company culture
8. Sense of humor
9. Passionate
10. Competitive salary

This article was written by Sophia Anderson and originally appeared on Your Coffee Break.