Articles on language

The power and the passion lost in procedure
For some time now it has been evident that politics has become lost for words. Frank Furedi
'... a statement issued by Occupy Melbourne states that “we envision a politics of self-determination and direct democracy without the need for representation”. From this standpoint, radicalism has to do with the rules of organisation rather than an objective to be fought for.'

'Probably the most significant expression of the shift from a political to managerial style of authority is the fetish of governance. Once upon a time governance referred to the act of directing and governing. Today it refers to the management of rules and processes. According to one definition, governance is “the systems and processes concerned with ensuring the overall direction, effectiveness, supervision and accountability of an organisation”.

The impoverishment of the language of politics, or what Australian social critic Don Watson describes as the “decay of public language”, reflects the erosion of a normative framework for the conduct of public life. It is when ideas about right and wrong and what ought to be valued cannot be taken for granted that process comes into its own. The proliferation of rule-making within institutions and in all domains of human experience is an inexorable consequence of the emptying out of a moral and political vocabulary.' FrankFuredi.com

Rewarding outstanding achievement in the Jargon Age. Irish Times
'Now for a sectoral prize, given to the most heroic attempt by a management consultant to overcomplicate matters. I was tempted to give it to the senior partner at a big four firm who told the Financial Times: “The challenge for me is to re-aggregate the big picture, while throwing my arms around as much of the density of complexities as possible, distilling them down to their most basic constituents and plugging them back into the big picture.” But I decided he needed a holiday more than a prize, so am giving the gong to a consultant at McKinsey who said: "The assessment was based on international methodology and on ground-truthing". Luke Kellaway, 9 January 2012.

Let's junk the jargon, please — I'm just sayin', Chronicle Herald
'The words people use are their choice. And the impressions left behind, well, that's our choice, too. What the jargon junkies fail to grasp is the self-damage inflicted by their insider cliches, insincere apologies and language of banality. The message they end up sending may be that they're a pompous jerk rather than a technological evangelist.' Gail Lethbridge, 8 January 2012.

SEE the ball, hit the ball, writes Andrew Faulkner.
'A review of the game came up with some plainly spoken recommendations, such as girding club cricket, making stars play more state games, and nurturing spin bowling. But it also delivered a muddle of the management jargon that is killing our language. Indeed, parts of the report might have been written by a council bureaucrat. "The matrix management structure proposed facilitates open collaborative discussion to achieve the desired outcomes," the review concluded. One paragraph, so many weasel words sucking the life out of the sentence's meaning. If it had any to start with, of course.' Adelaide Now, 17 December 2011.

BRW - Write and badly wrong
'The estimable Don Watson has popularised them as “weasel words” – those turgid, convoluted, self-important phrases and faux terminologies that have dragged official communication into its present day morass. Daily we are confounded by politicians, bureaucrats and business leaders who appear to be communicating while saying absolutely nothing, or just as likely the very reverse of what they appear to be saying ... As Don Watson notes in his seminal 2003 book, Death Sentence: the Decay of Public Language , the scourge of management language has infected every reach of society to “vandalise the language” beyond recognition ... Memos are rich with impoverished language and inflated egos. The preening self-regard of managers who favour management-speak fairly oozes from every meaningless word uttered. Were they not so hilarious they would be heart-breaking. ' Leo D'Angelo Fisher, BRW, 15 Dec, 2011.

Coaxing “Outside the Box” Back In: The Worst Corporate Jargon Offenders
'Hey!  It's mission-critical that we circle back on this very important matter of corporate jargon in the workplace. Let's focus on the low-hanging fruit with a small group first and then loop everyone in. Being proactive about our learnings will really incentivize the group to focus on the most critical action items and value-add for maximum impact. Let's start high level, drill down from there, and circle back after lunch to figure out next steps.' Career Builder Community, 6 Dec, 2011.

San Francisco Chronicle- Important city information too often wrapped in inpenetrable prose
'Take the Central Market Economic Strategy report ... The plan is “an iterative document” that also is “aspirational.” It's important that “the energy and resources of the City and its partners should be directed toward catalytic activities. Strategies that are likely to be implemented without intervention should be de-prioritized” ... It's certainly not just the city that's to blame. State and federal reports are equally eye-glazing and education papers have an impenetrable dialect all their own ...' San Francisco Chronicle, 1 December, 2011.

The Daily Mail, UK - Rail firms are told to ditch the jargon over train delays
'Under the new rules, train companies, station operators and Network Rail will have ‘a fundamental obligation' to dispense with gobbledegook. Among jargon excuses highlighted by passengers were 'poor railhead adhesion' which really means slippery tracks. The announcement ‘passenger action' could be anything from abuse of staff to opening doors on moving trains.' Mail Online, 1 December, 2011.

I'm all for cuts to frontline services, if they stop 'media liaison officers' leaving people to die in mineshafts.
'Mr Stewart's justification for his actions were peppered with that dreadful jargon that all ambitious commissars have to master if they are to progress to suit level. The rescue plan was not within his ‘remit'; it was ‘not my intention to allow any more resources into that shaft'. You have to sit through a lot of pencil-sucking management seminars to come out with that sort of tosh. No wonder he had forgotten how to rescue people.' , Robert Hardman, Daily Mail, 18 November, 2011.

'The elision of business-speak with the foggy verbiage of warfare is perhaps the most deranging aspect of the contemporary arms trade.' 'Why euphemism is integral to modern warfare', Will Self, BBC, 29 October 2011.

'Remuneration consultants, a small parasitic group providing a fig leaf justification for high salaries, helped ratchet up the pay and bonus levels throughout the economy.' Dr Diane Coyle quoted by Ross Gittins in The Age, 17 October, 2011.

'Author Mal Peet has accused politicians talking about the importance of community of using "weasel words" unless they defend libraries.' TheBookseller.com, 5 October, 2011.

'From a rescue fund called the EFSF to another known as the ESM, by way of a SPIV trust and an FTT levy, the acronyms and other labels generated by the European Union's fight to contain its sovereign debt crisis range from the arcane to the bizarre.

As pressure escalates on the EU to solve the chaos, so does the tome of technical jargon for programs aimed at regaining stability. But often the capital-letter-laden alphabet soup ends up causing more confusion than it's designed to resolve.

The EU's increasing power, from a new diplomatic corps to a push for more oversight over national budgets, also raises questions over whether it uses jargon to communicate internally, or whether it uses the mystery to its advantage.' Reuters, 31 October, 2011. Thanks Dey Alexander.

'When one considers the verbosity, redundancy, tautology, imprecision, indigestible bureaucratese and managerial waffle that passes for commercial writing these days, there can be little doubt that otherwise productive time is exhausted in unnecessary interpretative effort. An employee could easily spend at least 15 minutes re-reading material that wasn't clear on first reading and seeking clarification.' Geoffrey Marnell's Letter to the Editor, The Age, 18 October, 2011.

'FOR such little signs, they have caused a lot of confusion.

Their purpose is to save your life in a bushfire - yet they make no reference to bushfires. They begin with a three-letter abbreviation. They end with four words in small type.' Signs of confusion, life saving or face saving? The Age, 25 September, 2011. Thanks to Dey Alexander.

'Research by The Scotsman has unveiled similar examples of Orwellian doublespeak, military hubris and over-optimistic analyses dating back to the start of the war. Almost every year since 2001 has been described as "critical" or a turning point. The Taleban have been beaten, scattered, spent and - according to official statements - they are constantly under pressure.' 'How spin has hidden the true cost of Afghanistan', Jerome Starkey, The Scotsman, 17 September 2011.

'We're not sure if those who use this cryptic dialect actually think they sound smarter or are just attempting to solidify their membership in some sort of exclusive corporate tribe, but—we beg you—step away from the jargon.' 'Office Jargon: 6 Tired Work Buzzwords To Avoid', Anneke Jong, The Huffington Post, 23 September, 2011.

'As an Aboriginal interpreter in the Top End, Ms Gapany is the crucial link between indigenous territorians, many of whom speak English as their third or fourth language, and white Australia. But just being able to speak English isn't preparation for the strange dialects of Centrelink and other bureaucratic departments. When describing her job, Ms Gapany says, ''I've been learning jargon languages that every [government] organisation uses with their clients.''' Interpreters deciphering govt-speak jargon, Michael Inman, The Canberra Times, 11 Sep, 2011.

'Until the mid-1990s no one wrote about low-hanging fruit unless they were writing an article about the location of, well, fruit.' A leading solution for clarity optimisation... by Tim Phillips, September 2011.

'Mr Hammond agreed. "There will still be a need for assisted channels …"

"What are assisted channels?" asked Mr MacShane.

"I will tell you what assisted channels are," said Mr Hammond, then didn't.

New technologies would take over. We would be booking tickets with our mobile phones, for example. "But there will still be a need for an assisted channel, and we will ensure there is one."

It began to dawn on some of us that an "assisted channel" was the new jargon for an old-fashioned booking office, in which you ask a real human being for a standard class single from, say, Birmingham to Rotherham, and the twinkle-eyed fellow says, "That'll be £348 please!"' UK train travel like the Orient Express? That's rich, Simon Hoggart, guardian.co.uk, 15 September, 2011.

'TOURISM Tasmania has been rapped over the knuckles for using jargon instead of plain English.

Auditor-General Mike Blake said the frequent use of terms such as "driving visitation", "accelerating preference" and "non-traditional travel intermediaries" made it hard to tell if the agency's strategies were successful.' The Mercury, 2 September, 2011

'Prior to commencing any active operational strategies within the boundaries of this structure you are respectfully requested to notify the customer service staff at the initial contact station. Is it a joke? Surely they had a bet: a carton of beer for the person who could write the most long-winded, pompous, incomprehensible and ignorant claptrap in the history of the human tongue.' 'Weasel words off the scale', Colin Pearce, Townsville Bulletin, 2 Sept. 2011.

'That's the word to keep hold of: debt. Ignore the financiers' jargon – bond yields, credit default swaps, hedge funds – which make finance sound like quantum physics, a fearfully abstruse subject beyond the grasp of ordinary mortals.' 'Financial jargon is all Greek to me save one word – debt.' Peter Wilby, guardian.co.uk, 5 August, 2011.

' ...'the spokesperson released a gobbledygook statement that says "human trafficking remains a priority for this government" and suggests that somehow OCTIP "remains a distinct entity with a clear focus and mandate."

... In plain English, OCTIP has been swallowed by the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Branch of the solicitor general's ministry.

Apparently, the 100 staff there weren't busy enough already with victims-of-crime services, violence-against-women programs and crime-prevention initiatives.' B.C. flags in fight against human trafficking, Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun August 4, 2011.

'Politicians ... bobbing, weaving, and sidestepping around prickly issues, using weasel words to distract your attention, and evading questions by steering the topic back to thoroughly memorized talking points.' 'New Devil's Dictionary: Glossary for fiscal Armageddon', Terry Ponick, The Washington Times, 28 July, 2011.

'But in most cases, leaders who say we need to “cut some capacity” when what they really mean is firing people, or who talk about “incentivizing” employees instead of just simply motivating them, are using such language for no other reason than to veil what they really mean. To me, people who use such lingo are either trying to avoid actually speaking the painful thing they have to do, or trying to make it sound like what they're doing is more complicated—and therefore worth more in terms of reward or promotional opportunity—than it really is.' Jena McGregor, PostLeadership, Washington Post, 12 July, 2011.

'In Lansley's world, people are forever "commencing substantial piloting". Nobody ever talks to the people who might be affected; instead they "engage with stakeholders". Thus, "we will engage with stakeholders including the trade-offs". Stakeholders are important because "they are a key part of the broader picture" and "we want to hear stakeholders' priorities for action".

I couldn't help but have a vision of carers in a home holding small pieces of steak on teaspoons, warning the residents not to get the meat stuck between their teeth, before turning to engage with Mr Lansley.' 'Andrew Lansley's monkey puzzles', guardian.co.uk, 5 July 2011.

'WHY is so much of the language around art such incomprehensible crap? It's a serious question prompted by several quality (but not necessarily serious) minutes of online engagement spent on a web site called the "Arty Bollocks Generator".' 'Gobbledegook at the press of a button' by Marcus Westbury, The Age, 4 July, 2011.

'Unfortunately, education has become an area where jargon is rife. The result is that very many parents - and probably many in the profession too - feel excluded. "The new factfile is certainly a step in the right direction: the next step is to move away from the jargon completely."' 'School chiefs issue 'jargon buster' for parents', NEWS.Scotsman.com, 28 June 2011.

'Stellenbosch Business School's Frik Landman says even finance should not be over rated. “You only have to know two things: money comes in and money goes out.” Perhaps that's why some people like jargon, to give their job mystique it doesn't deserve.' 'At a loss for words' by David Furlonger, Financial Mail, 23 June 2011.

'The core of it as any experienced financial commentator will tell you is to demonstrate your decades of experience compared with the common man, while describing as accurately as possible your view that any possible outcome is possible over any time period without excluding anything with the objective being to enable you to claim credit for or disclaim credit for any and every outcome in hindsight at a later date without responsibility for anything bad while remaining popularly optimistic at all times.' Marcus Padley writing about a recent Henry Blodget article in the Business Insider in the US. Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June 2011. Thanks to Ben Wadham.

'The Olympic champion of sleep-inducing jargon must be the word "paradigm." It didn't take long for the P word to make its appearance in the Judaism 2030 report: "My present concern is that Jewish community -- and certainly Jewish education -- has been in a totally isolationist paradigm for a long time."' David Suissa, The People of the Jargon, Huffington Post, 16 June 2011.

'The only way to reverse the decline in membership of the party is to give sovereignty to the membership. You can't use the passive voice to state things like 'the rank and file must be empowered' or weasel words like that. To give power to the membership you have to take it from somewhere else and that means trade union officials and the parliamentary parties.' Rodney Cavalier, a former minister in successive NSW governments in the article 'No light on the hill' in The Age, 14 June 2011.

'My eyes glaze over whenever I hear talk about being on the 'same page', about 'going forward', 'key drivers', stuff that's 'mission critical', taking the 'viewfinder' over the 'mission statement' and seeing what's at the end of the 'digital tunnel', with the 'low hanging fruit' and 'key drivers'. And the list goes on.' 'Mind your jargon', Management Line, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 May, 2011

'Educators apparently adore alliteration: "Scaffolding for success," "ramp up for rigor and readiness," "data-driven," "drilling down," "authentic assessment," "teaching to the test," and "rigorous research."' 'The Joys of Educational Jargon', John Merrow, Huffington Post, 25 April, 2011.

Remove the jargon delivery programme, going forward

'Is it too much to ask that people write and talk in plain English? Healthcare, the area in which I work, is a serial offender. "Portable care pathways", "patch-basing" and "co-morbidity" are just a few choice examples. It's all Greek to me.' Martin Edwards, Third Sector, 4 April 2011.

A War of Enlightenment Against Marketing Jargon

I've decided to put this marketing jargon in its place. The quadrant below classifies the most common phrases, sorted by degree of overuse and lack of meaning. Hover your mouse over a given phrase to see my snarky comments. Hunter Richards, The Software Advice Blog, 4 April, 2011.

'Customers' left baffled in council jargon increase

'TWO years after it promised more straight talking, the council is bombarding its 'customers' with more nonsense and jargon than ever before.' Guardian, 1 April 2011.

'It could be, you know, that "some output-based objectives" are "appropriate at a programme level" but that "other audience-focused outcome-based objectives are better suited to being set at channel/genre level". After all, "too much micro-management of audience objectives… at individual programme level runs the risk of creating not only perverse or unintended consequences but also of excessive bureaucracy".' BBC Trust suffers dramatic outbreak of jargon. The Observer, 27 March, 2011.

'On the term "conference demountable unit", used to describe a portable incident room, she said: "As far as I can tell, management jargon is taking over organisations and perfectly sensible, straightforward titles are being changed.' 7/7 coroner criticises use of 'jargon' by emergency service chiefs. Lady Justice Hallett says 'management speak' used by emergency services chiefs might not be understood. Alexandra Topping, 3 March, 2011, guardian.co.uk.

'All the favourite words of NGO-speak are now aired in the makeshift corridors and canteens of Juba, the fledgling capital. Top of the list are “empowerment”, “capacity-building” and “stakeholder” (not someone actually carrying a stake). “Governance”, “civil society”, “facilitators” and “disadvantaged” follow fast behind. British NGOs have a fondness for “focal groups”. Americans like anything that leads to “inclusion”, especially of the “excluded”.' The jargon of aid, Anyone here speak NGOish?, The Economist, 27 January 2011.

'If I can go stand in a corporate meeting and say, "We're going to have a blue sky strategy and circle the wagons," and six months later the company's in the toilet, I can say I didn't promise anything.' Patrick Gray, Prevoyance founder in the Charlotte Observer.

'The Pacific has a rich cultural and linguistic tradition. Hundreds of distinct languages are spoken in homes throughout our 14 countries ... However, none of our words are quite so exotic as the ones spoken by the climate change negotiator.' Marcus Stephen, president of Nauru and leader of the group of Pacific Small Island Developing States speaking at Cancun, Mexico. 'Nauru leaders fears death by jargon.' AFP.

'Bed numbers have been cut (using the weasel word 'reconfiguration'), thus increasing and delaying waiting times for patients, reducing the ability to run theatre lists efficiently and allowing the care of vulnerable patients in areas inappropriate to their needs.' Patients feel the real cost of hospital cuts, Belfast Telegraph, 20 December 2010.

'In its bureaucratic jargon, the board noted that “transportation facilities enhanced by public art elements provide aesthetic and cultural benefits to a community. These benefits can potentially result in positive economic development and increase tourism both locally and throughout North Carolina.”' 'Ashvegas: Asheville mural inspires state DOT' by Jason Sandford, Citizen-Times.com, 22 December, 2010

'The Excessive Use Of Weasel Words - Penalty System: Each staff member is allocated three and only three chances to use weasel words each day. You know, things like "transparency of communication", "organisational synergy" and "incentivisation".' 'Just get that moustache away from me' by Jo Thornely, The Daily Telegraph, 15 December, 2010

'The general breakdown of meaning is compounded by the mantra-like intensity with which corporate jargon is often used. During a speech by the managing partner of a leading City law firm at a press event over the summer, my fellow journalists and I counted 11 "going forwards" in five minutes. Amazingly, this level of repetition was trumped at a recent conference I attended, where a group of lawyers' passion for the term "added value" was such that at one point of anti-intellectual crescendo it almost became a chant. Judging by the looks on their faces, I think a few of them may have even reached some sort of corporate nirvana.' 'Lawyers should right-size their love of corporate jargon' by Alex Aldridge, 26 November 2010, guardian.co.uk.

'There's so much jargon, I get so mad ...There's a new term now: 'front-loading', like in a washing machine? I don't know what it means but I hope I'll find out here.' Maureen has been to several shows at an economics festival called Kilkenomics with economists and stand-up comics in Kilkenny, Ireland. BBC news, 18 November 2010.

'Some phrases have an alienation effect, where the bulky impenetrability of the language closes down the audience, sending us off on a flight of fancy or into a catatonic state. You'd need Ritalin to hear somebody say "General practice-led consortia commissioning healthcare services" even once, let alone four times, without switching off.' 'Jargon is spreading like nits in the coalition's playground' by Zoe Williams, 11 November 2010, The Guardian.

'If you've been reading too much “financial porn,” you might be tempted by the “skirt-length theory” and try to “buy the dips” of a “widow-and-orphan stock,” and then hope for a “dead cat bounce” so you can do some “naked shorting.” Those are all terms used in the business world, and among the entries in the new Financial Writer's Stylebook: 1,100 Business Terms Defined and Rated.' 'Stock Answers,A stylebook takes on financial terms'. By Merrill Perlman, 8 November 2010, Columbia Journalism Review.

'Jargon-Heavy Memo Elicits Collective 'What?' From Condé Nast Employees', Nate Freeman, The New York Observer, 28 October, 2010.

'...The usual bureaucratic buzzwords – delivery, conflict management etc – are two a penny, along with easily parroted phrases – "identity, locate, contain and neutralise the threat" – designed for rote-learning from a whiteboard at police college. Flow-charts communicate absolutely nothing.' Mary Dejevsky: Slash the jargon that obscures good sense, The Independent, 12 October 2010.

'Words like “transformative” and “impactful” are meaningless to the general public .... And the word “innovative” is just an effort to pump up existing efforts.' 'Nonprofits need to drop the jargon' by By Andrea Ball, 1 September, 2010, statesman.com.

'Most of the jargon is a deliberate smokescreen to confuse and befuddle the shareholders, which in the case of Anglo Irish Bank is you, your family and friends.' 'The bluffers' guide to banking jargon. . .' by Thomas Molloy, 1 September 2010, Independent.ie.

“The bankers who dealt in CDOs and SIVs and the like talked about them in their exclusive jargon. It was the story of the Emperor's New Clothes all over again… They pretended to understand the jargon, and insisted that everything was under control.” How lies undermine our security, D. Murali, 16 Sept 2010, The Hindu.

'Notwithstanding one's political affiliations, the language used by all of our political leaders has been almost exclusively utilitarian. It has become a statistical narrative of GDP and CPIs, of economics and markets, of ageing and life expectancy, of productivity and competition; to be fair it recognises a series of challenges with descriptions of ‘urban congestion', the ‘adequacy of infrastructure', and the impact on ‘housing supply'.'
Jonathan Mills: State of the Arts Lecture, The Age, 4 Aug, 2010

'Well now, I know what a key is and I know what a driver is, but neither piece of knowledge is much use here. The phrase "key driver" is a dead metaphor. More significantly it derives from the world of corporate jargon, which suggests that you think of yourself as a corporation. You are not a corporation. You are a public service. Indeed you are actually my servants. I am paying you to do a job for me. So rather than using the jargon that corporations use to cloud the truth, I'd prefer you to tell me the truth.' Joe Bennett, 'Dear Council, try saying sorry and dump the propaganda', The Southland Times, 28 July 2010

'The fire service today lives in a world of ‘blue horizon scanning', ‘windows of opportunities', and ‘mission critical tasking' – a world where all of us are told ‘you're not qualified to have an opinion, you must leave it to the experts'.' Peter Hope, of Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigades Union, 'Drop jargon and speak in language we understand!', Worcester News, 23 July 2010.

'It took just five minutes of Julia Gillard's opening speech of the election for Don Watson to switch off and lose all interest in Labor's campaign ... Mr Watson said that slogan [moving forward] was nothing more than a ''lump of dead meat'' ripped straight from the corporate world and its constant repetition was patronising to everyone listening.' Sydney Morning Herald, 19 July 2010.

'In the war logs they are labelled simply "green on green". But "green" is the military 's jargon for Afghan or "host nation" armed forces, and the accounts of more than 50 incidents where local troops opened fire on their comrades paint a vivid picture of the lawless quality of life in the country.' The Guardian, 25 July 2010

'Everyone has a good time, they enjoy their ropes experience, their climbing or their go-carting but it doesn't translate back to the workplace. Back in the work scene, the old patterns emerge, the old communication styles emerge. The same way of dealing with people stays.'
Dr Darryl Cross of Crossways Consulting, 'Corporate bonding events a "waste of time"', Caitlin O'Toole, news.com.au, 1 July 2010. And a comment on this article:
'The team leaders dressed up as the Wiggles. We played Wiggles games all day. Felt like I was in a pre-school, not an office. The only thing this achieved for me was losing all respect for my boss.'

'Instilling in law a wider sense of duty on the part of directors seems like a step in the right direction. It may not, in itself, ensure the success of Sants' ethical and cultural crusade. But it might let everybody see clearly that "shareholder value" is a piece of management jargon.' 'Hector Sants' good idea. The FSA's chief executive is right to want to enshrine in law that company directors think about more than shareholder value'. Nils Pratley, guardian.co.uk 17 June 2010.

'The list might include, proposed Nigel Hawkes writing in the British Medical Journal recently, "stakeholder" (as in "a comprehensive mapping exercise of local stakeholders"), which, he observes, tends to apply to those who have no stake other than bearing a banner saying "listen to me". "Committed" and "deliver" are similarly expendable, as in the hospital trust that aspires to being "fully committed to equip its staff with the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to improve and deliver services".' 'Meaningless NHS jargon has got to go', James Le Fanu, Telegraph.co.uk, 31 May 2010.

'The language of commerce has now fully cemented itself in our vernacular, functioning the way sports, military, mafia and street slang has in the past: as a shorthand for when we're too unimaginative or lazy to come up with original sentences. In our business-and money-obsessed society, we've all become fluent in corporate-speak — even those of us who have never set foot in a boardroom or strategy meeting. Just call it synergy.' Teddy Wayne on the Speakeasy blog.

'The government is also accused of ''the worst traditions of management-speak'' by using timid words such as ''relocation'' instead of the stronger ''evacuation'', and for creating terms such as ''Neighbourhood Safer Places - Places of Last Resort'', which are better called ''shelters''.' Bushfire commission lashes government 'failures', by Michael Bachelard, The Sunday Age, 23 May, 2010.

China vice president calls for reducing jargon use. AAP

'... a new phrase. Fabrice's assertions that he must try harder to be a "firm culture carrier". I predict this will take off. It suggests that one can carry the Goldman culture in the same way one can carry a sexually transmitted disease.' 'Fabulous Fab is more frightening than you think', Lucy Kellaway, UK Financial Times, 3 May 2010.

'Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was shown a PowerPoint slide in Kabul last summer that was meant to portray the complexity of American military strategy, but looked more like a bowl of spaghetti. “When we understand that slide, we'll have won the war,” General McChrystal dryly remarked, one of his advisers recalled, as the room erupted in laughter.' 'We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint', by Elisabeth Bumiller, 26 April, The New York Times. From Mark Colvin from the ABC via George O'Farrell.

'“It's the nature of government business,” said Biaggi. “Governments need good solid legal language they can enforce, but sometimes this creates unclarity for the lay reader.”' Tahoe Regional Planning Agency wants to simplify its wealth of jargon, by Matthew Renda, North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, 10 April 2010.

'Writing in a recent blog, Almonte, Ont. parent Chantal Hubert cited an oxymoronic line in her daughter Erin's first grade report card recommending that she "continue to develop communication ability using simple language." ' 'Schools expel report card jargon through pilot program', The Globe and Mail, 6 March, 2010.

'Florence Eavis from Holiday Inn said that they believe that getting rid of pointless jargon will help people concentrate longer in meetings. Thus, they are asking their guests to simply speak plain English. Holiday Inn is also offering more tips at their website.' ' New Anti-Jargon Campaign Launched by Holiday Inn' by Sharon Miller, Self-Catering-Breaks News, 10 March, 2010.

'Why do we have to have a "webinar trialogue for the wellderly" when the public sector could just "talk about caring for the elderly" instead?' LGA Chairman Margaret Eaton, UK councils ordered to quit the jargon. CNN, 11 March, 2010.

'Our culture's unquestioning belief in the power of words may be turning into a blinding fundamentalism: ''Words will save us.'' To deal with the bushfire problem, a new set of words such as ''catastrophic'' has been strategically positioned to help protect the population, but close to sweet nothing has been done by government to create a standard domestic fire bunker ... I fancy that echolalia could well refer to a condition in modern media and their captive communities. Like the compulsive rocking back and forth of the radically distressed, echolalia could be a name for the repetitious, unstoppable going around and around of dead or dying ideas in the culture; the boring babble and banging on in the vortex of tribal media chatter.' Michael Leunig, 'Dead lemon tree syndrome', The Age, 13 Feb 2010.

'"Thinking outside the box" and "Let's touch base" were the most hated buzz phrases among the 1,836 people surveyed by Opinium research.' 'Does "thinking outside the box" drive you mad?' Reuters, 10 February. Thanks to Courtenay Rule.

'Workers choosing a cheaper lunch are said to be having a "credit munch", while businesses are bringing in "chainsaw consultants" to reduce the workforce. The fear of being "de-cruited" or "uninstalled" – terms for being fired – is enough to give any worker a "bog shaker", meaning a breakdown in the office loo.' Recession causes rise in office jargon, 23 Jan 2010, Telegraph.co.uk

2. The Most Slippery Corporate Euphemism for Job Cuts goes to the Nokia Siemens merger for this abomination: "Synergy-related head count restructuring." ...
4. For ungainly Verb-to-Noun Transmogrification, the winner is learnings, as in what "learnings" have participants taken away from this webinar. Oh, please. 'And the Gag Me Awards go to ...' By Gail Lethbridge, 8 Jan 2010. The ChronicleHerald.ca

'3,700 elephants found in offices last year (along with other meaningless jargon)'
5 January 2010 by Clare Baillie. NEWS.Scotsman.com

'... The constant repetition of the idea of ceaseless change tends to natualise it and turn it into an omnipotent autonomous force that subjects human beings to its will. This is a force that annihilates the past and demands that people learn to adapt and readapt to new experiences. From this standpoint humans do not so much determine their future as adapt to forces beyond their control.' From Frank Furedi's opening lecture at the recent Battle of Ideas conference in London.

'It came into the corporations beginning in the late 1980s as a way of calming people down during layoffs. You send the laid-off people to the out-placement firm, where they get pep talks on changing their attitude. The survivors need motivational speakers so they can do the work of two people.' Barbara Ehrenreich, interviewed on Bloomberg.com about her new book: Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.

'BELONGING? COMMUNITY? SHARED VALUES? These, surely, have become the weasel words of contemporary social analysis. Overblown and overplayed, they have been robbed of much of their meaning. They have come to sound more like mantras than social goals.' 'Real Communities' by Hugh Mackay, Griffith REVIEW

'Just as the US government rebranded the War on Terror as  The Fight for a Better World  in 2005, so many of us have abandoned the real, truthful yet uncomfortable word  problem, and substituted the blandly depressing  issue  instead. It's the worst type of weasel word.' The issue issue From: Talk Normal by Tim Phillips

'What's comedic about this is that the very evening after the forum, the hit NBC show “30 Rock” poked fun at terms like these. In one particular scene of Thursday's episode, the main character, Liz Lemon, is convincing her boss, Jack Donaghy, to allow their staff to go to Miami. Liz has a poster board that simply reads, “Miami = Synergy,” and she proceeds to say to Jack, “Cross-promotional, deal mechanics, revenue streams, jargon, synergy.”

Jack responds, “That's the best presentation I've ever seen. Get started right away.”' Trendy jargon may dazzle, but plain English is better, Purdue Exponent, 25 Jan 2010

'Big words don't equal a bigger brain. It has been said that intelligent people who are confident in their message and passionate about what they do don't need obscure language to communicate. In fact, studies have shown that professional communication filled with jargon comes across as rude, disingenuous or obnoxious while clearly expressed messages are perceived as energetic, truthful and friendly.' 'Buzz off, and leave jargon out of communications' by John McFerran. 16 Jan 2010. Winnipeg Free Press.

'Sebastian, the Ragan Communications editor, jokes that you'd never say: ''Hi honey, you really thought outside the box with that dinner -- those deliverables with the fresh vegetables were outstanding.'' So why talk that way in the office?' 'Workplace Lingo: The Good and Bad of Office Jargon'. Associated Press, 11 Jan 2010