The Encyclopedia of Business Cliches

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 135 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #5 in Business, #138 overall

It's about clarity

I remember learning new words and phrases by the barrelful in business school. As a business-book writer, I'm exposed to them all the time. Many of them are actually quite useful, because they give you precise words to describe things that would be difficult to communicate otherwise. For example, telling someone that a particular hedge fund is "highly leveraged" is a lot easier than saying, "They've borrowed a lot of money in order to speculate and multiply their positive returns using other people's money."

On the other hand, the vast majority of buzzwords exist for one reason: to hide. By obfuscating, lying, confusing or just plain avoiding the issue, business people can avoid communicating. Do you have the guts to stop using cliches? 

Here's my top ten. Add your own... 

Time Management

2 points

Delegating

1 point

0 points

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Books on business language 

Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide by Brian Fugere

Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide by Brian Fugere

Dull, verbose, evasive language that disguises emp more...2 points

Great Stuff on Amazon 

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by sethgodin

Seth Godin is the bestselling author of ten books. He writes about marketing, the spread of ideas and managing both customers and employees with respe... (more)

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