We all use it, but most of us are annoyed by it – office jargon. Some phrases come to mind right away, including “low hanging fruit”, “per my last email”, or “synergy”. Turns out, “synergy” rated as the number one most annoying word used in the office according to a survey by GetResponse. They surveyed over 1,000 employees of different ages and industries to find out the workplace’s most hated terms or phrases. The results are quite humorous. In order of dislike, the top 25 most hated office words and phrases are:
- Synergy
- Teamwork
- Touch base
- Raising the Bar
- Think outside the box
- Work harder
- Best practice
- Paradigm shift
- The next time you feel the need to reach out…
- Empower
- Keep up the good work
- At the end of the day…
- Give 110%
- It is what it is…
- Circle back
- Game changer
- Get on it
- KPI
- Move the needle
- Actionable
- ASAP
- Core competency
- Crush it
- Drink the Kool Aid
- Keep it up
I have to admit that I’ve used some of these, and many of these made me laugh as I’ve heard them many times over the years. Do you have any specific pet-peeve phrases? Share them with me at [email protected].