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Todd Earwood

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Top 5 Overused Business Cliches

If you work in an office or regularly have meetings, you’ve heard these overused terms. After an unbearable run of cliches in meetings, I offer you my top 5 (and a bonus at no charge).

1- Synergy
2- To build on that
3- Mission Critical
4- Put all the cards on the table (Open the Kimono)
5- Take this to the next level

I know this is only the “tip of the iceberg” (had to throw that in there), but I want to know which of these you’re tired of hearing. Please post in the comments below.

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  • http://www.currentmarketing.com Katy Miller (Media Darling)

    Great post!
    In no particular order, mine:
    - Get on the same page
    - Reinvent the wheel
    - Out of the box
    - Web 2.0 (I know, it's a bit ironic)
    - Proactive

  • Mark Kaelin

    I am particularly tired of the suggestion that I should “leverage” our synergies. That is like saying we should repeat our redundancies.

  • http://www.toddearwood.com earwood

    Katy – I love your list. How in the world did I forget “out of the box”??? Possibly worse than synergy!

  • http://www.toddearwood.com earwood

    Mark – I'm guilty of using the word leverage, but I haven't been leveraging our synergies. :)

  • Seth

    How about these gems:

    • I wanted to touch base
    • “Content Management System”
    • Change gears
    • Wrestle this bull to the ground

  • http://www.louisvillegeekdinner.com bdthomas

    At the end of the day, I think you hit the nail on the head. Todd, way to go after that low hanging fruit.

  • http://www.cyprich.com Johan Cyprich

    For a few months, I was working in the same area as sales people and one phrase which I heard in every conversation with their clients was “touch base”. I'd like to tell our clients, “all your base are belong to us”, but not many of them have a great sense of humour. :)

  • http://www.toddearwood.com earwood

    I haven't heard “wrestle the bull”, but I'm guilty of saying CMS (not the full name). Does that count as the same?

  • billdotson

    How about “I'll pay you in equity” or “as soon as we have funding…” — not so normal, but they are prevalent. Banks love, “we don't set the rules”…

    My new favorite — “its the economy”

  • http://www.toddearwood.com earwood

    Bill – I think you're speaking startup blasphemy with the first couple and I love the “its the economy” one. We all know it's terrible, but it seems many have found their scapegoat. :)

  • http://www.andyswan.com andyswan

    You have to imagine that boardrooms were quite a bit more effective when men with greased hair smoked cigars and pontificated on ways to kick the shit out of the competition without dancing around the terminology.

    But, maybe “circling back with terry and seeing if there is some common ground for us to use as a jump point” is working for someone, somewhere.

  • http://www.andyswan.com andyswan

    You have to imagine that boardrooms were quite a bit more effective when men with greased hair smoked cigars and pontificated on ways to kick the shit out of the competition without dancing around the terminology.

    But, maybe “circling back with terry and seeing if there is some common ground for us to use as a jump point” is working for someone, somewhere.

  • chuckbernard

    Dear Todd,
    I appreciate this posting. I work as a fellowships and graduate studies adviser at a liberal arts college, and I read a lot of personal statements and project proposals. Our business and econ students throw these cliches out there at a startling rate, and the problem is especially glaring when they're not applying for business positions.
    My two favorites correspond to your top choice, synergy, in so far as they are words whose uses have wandered pretty far from their earlier ones.
    Leverage — I had a student recently write that she had written her senior thesis by “leveraging” the rare book collection at a local library.
    Metric — I'm not sure why measurement or study or whatever other terms apply here have fallen out of favor, but I see many references to metric. And in a lot of cases, it seems that people use it to discuss any sort of analysis or any part of an analysis. Some people also seem to use it to mean result or outcome, which seems even more overdone.

  • Christine

    I know this article is a year old. But my small company was just “acquired” (bought) by a large company. Large Company loves to use the terms:
    -Workaround …. aka: solution!
    -Champion …. aka: person responsible for the task
    UGH

  • hopeforthedawn

    Hello Everybody,

    Yes I honestly hate all the Cliches in the world.. specially the business ones!!!! They seem to be some phrase which keep on penetrating our brains and minds with it's awful sounds….”Isn't it time to take this to the next level?!!!!”….”I think you have to take this to the next level!!!!!!!”….”Let's take that to the next level!!!!!!”….”We are in need to take it to the next level!!!!!!”

    This is just one cliche in different sentences and ways of saying it.. imagine how many others for each other cliches!!! Ohh my God! How I hate these extremely overused terms.. I hate how they sound so badly.. It just keeps getting on my nerves..

    But the most and worst part of it.. and which is getting on my nerves even more badly.. is not when the business owner says it only but also when people around say it to imitate the BOSS playing wise & kissing asses in a way makes me really feel I want to throw up

    I apologize & excuse me for the way & the language I hate to talk with.. but it annoys me so much & it seems that the subject has hit a nerve in me.. I'm sorry..

  • http://www.jetpunk.com/ Dan Hostetler

    From researching my quiz, my favorite is “low-hanging fruit.” I think it's actually a useful concept, unlike “work smarter, not harder”. Here's the fill-in-the-blank quiz I wrote with 20 business cliches:

    http://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/business-cliches

  • Madisonwest764

    Great job. I posted this link to my Facebook in fact. I really think there has been a decline in trust at my workplace ever since our business-oriented (I work in the medical field….and yes, I realize medicine is now a business) executive director began deluging us with over-used cliches. As a result, the minions (wanna be director types) are mimicking the boss's language and there are little cliche drones talking dumb around the workplae. A classic case of The Emperor's New Clothes.

  • ideagirl

    Our corporate leader used so many repetitive cliche's in our monthly conference calls that I made bingo cards up with all of the cliche's listed. Each card was slightly different. So during the tedious call each month we played “cliche bingo” which kept us all awake and actually helped us to pay attention to what was being said. That's what I call SYNERGY!

  • Jerry

    boots on the ground

  • Jerry

    boots on the ground

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EPYDWKWYYNBKWAKULVUCMQZ6DI Steve

    Nobody makes use of anything anymore, instead, they “leverage” it. Sick.