6 ms·

A lot of corporate communication is people copying other people’s style. Around 18 months ago people at my company started calling people “resources”. Now every

A lot of corporate communication is people copying other people’s style. Around 18 months ago people at my company started calling people “resources”. Now everybody does it and doesn’t even notice how weird this is. Things like “I have talked to that resource”. Then there was another time when all managers suddenly said “I want to challenge that”. That lasted two years and then it went away. Another one was to ask ”are we aligned?” Lasted maybe a year before it fell out of fashion I am sure the “impressed” thing will go away too in a while.

partyboat1586 7y ago
I love the lingo. Once you understand it it gives you an upper hand in negotiation with people who use it. The mistake most people make is to start using it all the time. The trick is to use it with people who speak it and don't use it with people who don't speak it. Simple, just gotta learn to speak other people's language. I have to admit though “I have talked to that resource”. is cringe worthy. "We have a resourcing problem" OK "That resource over there in the red shirt isn't producing enough output to meet deadlines, we must hire additional resource." Not OK.
- lozenge 7y ago
  I get automated emails with "Resource name: lozenge". I think it is a system with employees and contractors and they don't want to use the word "Employee" if it's not accurate. But honestly, they could have found another solution...
  - user5994461 7y ago
    That reminds me of a well-known company I joined once, only to discover in my first week that two thirds of the workers were either temps, direct contractors or outsourced abroad. No wounder businesses are talking about resources instead of employees.
  - wodenokoto 7y ago
    Obviously HR are inclined to refer to workers as resources. They are after all working in the human resource department ...
ncmncm 7y ago
The great thing about such jargon is that nobody can tell whether you are using it ironically or ignorantly. "Leverage", as a verb, has had quite a run.
SamReidHughes 7y ago
I genuinely believe it will.
notus 7y ago
100% agree about this. One of our VP's keeps a running list of words that people start copying each other on at the company. The last one was "ephemeral"
- BubRoss 7y ago
  I like that guy already. I'll translate this into modern internet speak that keeps creeping in: "oh yeah like 100% like I like that guy already rn af?"
  - taneq 7y ago
    That is so very "how are you fellow kids".
  - nkrisc 7y ago
    I think you need to brush up on "modern internet speak."
    - BubRoss 7y ago
      I think I don't.
arthurcolle 7y ago
One funny thing about a company I worked at was the pervasive, incorrect usage of the word "revert", in the context of replying to an email thread.
- tacostakohashi 7y ago
  That usage is common/"correct" in Indian / Singaporean English, and perhaps others too. It's a regional difference, as opposed to corporate nonsense, although it's still very strange when you first encounter it.
  - outworlder 7y ago
    Not as strange as "do the needful".
    - jogjayr 7y ago
      At least "do the needful" is somewhat correct and parseable. It was even used in Victorian England.[1] Anyone can understand it means "do what's necessary". It's old and weird, but not wrong. "revert" and "reply" are entirely different words that sound kind of similar. 1. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/do-the-needful/ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/do-the-needful/
    - agoodthrowaway 7y ago
      I’m not Indian but I love “do the needful”. I’ve only ever encountered it when people used it for humorous affect. Something about it makes me smile.
      - levythe 7y ago
        It's much less amusing when it's used seriously by a lead engineer who clearly hasn't actually thought about what "the needful" is and who clearly just wants to pass off the "ask" you "brought them" to someone who clearly doesn't know what "the needful" is.
    - 7y ago
thrower123 7y ago
One of my favorite Raymond Chen (of Microsoft, and The Old New Thing) recurring bits was on Microspeak, explaining weird bits of insider Microsoft corporate jargon. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/tag/microspeak https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/tag/microspeak
hogFeast 7y ago
Lucy Kellaway used to write a lot about this, in regards to corporate communications. It was hilarious, and a little depressing too. My first "real" job involved writing a lot of reports. And I found out, to my initial surprise, that all the reports were copy and pasted from other reports. I remember doing my first report, and my boss pretty much lost his mind (this was my first week...he called me an f'ing c@@t) when I suggested that the report could be cut down and made more suitable for the client. Ofc, my boss was semi-literate, terrified of writing, and the threat of litigation (this was a heavily regulated business, regulators would likely read these reports) held no horror relative to the threat of having to write (he also told me later that the longer the report, the less likely clients were to read it...he managed $100m of other people's money). Put briefly: people are afraid of having to think for themselves, it is easier to communicate in nonsense when the risk of other people finding out you don't know what you are doing is so emotionally severe. This goes all the way from the mail room to the board room. Words I hate: overuse of super (common in tech), leverage (outside of the financial meaning), learnings (very hot a few years ago but cooled significantly), huddle, staffer, analyst (presumably they will be calling my trashman a refuse transportation analyst at some point), revert, network (it still isn't okay)...I am sure there are more. Incidentally, one game I used to play at the above mentioned job was to sprinkle obscure but clever-sounding words in my conversations with my boss and see how many he would start using...simpler times, simple joys :)
- chiph 7y ago
  So you weren't able to fulfill his ask? (another misuse of a verb as a noun)
  - brianmcc 7y ago
    Or take away any valuable "learnings"?
- theandrewbailey 7y ago
  I remember asking people "What's learnings" whenever they used that word. Another one: "performant"; just use "fast" instead.
dandare 7y ago
Everybody at my company is building MVPs, even though they are not searching for product-market fit nor testing any assumptions about the product. What they really want to say is they release early / release often. It makes me cringe every time an exec uses "MVP" as a buzzword.

partyboat1586 7y ago

I love the lingo. Once you understand it it gives you an upper hand in negotiation with people who use it. The mistake most people make is to start using it all the time. The trick is to use it with people who speak it and don't use it with people who don't speak it. Simple, just gotta learn to speak other people's language. I have to admit though “I have talked to that resource”. is cringe worthy. "We have a resourcing problem" OK "That resource over there in the red shirt isn't producing enough output to meet deadlines, we must hire additional resource." Not OK.

lozenge 7y ago
I get automated emails with "Resource name: lozenge". I think it is a system with employees and contractors and they don't want to use the word "Employee" if it's not accurate. But honestly, they could have found another solution...
- user5994461 7y ago
  That reminds me of a well-known company I joined once, only to discover in my first week that two thirds of the workers were either temps, direct contractors or outsourced abroad. No wounder businesses are talking about resources instead of employees.
- wodenokoto 7y ago
  Obviously HR are inclined to refer to workers as resources. They are after all working in the human resource department ...

ncmncm 7y ago

The great thing about such jargon is that nobody can tell whether you are using it ironically or ignorantly. "Leverage", as a verb, has had quite a run.

SamReidHughes 7y ago

I genuinely believe it will.

notus 7y ago

100% agree about this. One of our VP's keeps a running list of words that people start copying each other on at the company. The last one was "ephemeral"

BubRoss 7y ago
I like that guy already. I'll translate this into modern internet speak that keeps creeping in: "oh yeah like 100% like I like that guy already rn af?"
- taneq 7y ago
  That is so very "how are you fellow kids".
- nkrisc 7y ago
  I think you need to brush up on "modern internet speak."
  - BubRoss 7y ago
    I think I don't.

arthurcolle 7y ago

One funny thing about a company I worked at was the pervasive, incorrect usage of the word "revert", in the context of replying to an email thread.

tacostakohashi 7y ago
That usage is common/"correct" in Indian / Singaporean English, and perhaps others too. It's a regional difference, as opposed to corporate nonsense, although it's still very strange when you first encounter it.
- outworlder 7y ago
  Not as strange as "do the needful".
  - jogjayr 7y ago
    At least "do the needful" is somewhat correct and parseable. It was even used in Victorian England.[1] Anyone can understand it means "do what's necessary". It's old and weird, but not wrong. "revert" and "reply" are entirely different words that sound kind of similar. 1. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/do-the-needful/ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/do-the-needful/
  - agoodthrowaway 7y ago
    I’m not Indian but I love “do the needful”. I’ve only ever encountered it when people used it for humorous affect. Something about it makes me smile.
    - levythe 7y ago
      It's much less amusing when it's used seriously by a lead engineer who clearly hasn't actually thought about what "the needful" is and who clearly just wants to pass off the "ask" you "brought them" to someone who clearly doesn't know what "the needful" is.
  - 7y ago

thrower123 7y ago

One of my favorite Raymond Chen (of Microsoft, and The Old New Thing) recurring bits was on Microspeak, explaining weird bits of insider Microsoft corporate jargon. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/tag/microspeak https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/tag/microspeak

hogFeast 7y ago

Lucy Kellaway used to write a lot about this, in regards to corporate communications. It was hilarious, and a little depressing too. My first "real" job involved writing a lot of reports. And I found out, to my initial surprise, that all the reports were copy and pasted from other reports. I remember doing my first report, and my boss pretty much lost his mind (this was my first week...he called me an f'ing c@@t) when I suggested that the report could be cut down and made more suitable for the client. Ofc, my boss was semi-literate, terrified of writing, and the threat of litigation (this was a heavily regulated business, regulators would likely read these reports) held no horror relative to the threat of having to write (he also told me later that the longer the report, the less likely clients were to read it...he managed $100m of other people's money). Put briefly: people are afraid of having to think for themselves, it is easier to communicate in nonsense when the risk of other people finding out you don't know what you are doing is so emotionally severe. This goes all the way from the mail room to the board room. Words I hate: overuse of super (common in tech), leverage (outside of the financial meaning), learnings (very hot a few years ago but cooled significantly), huddle, staffer, analyst (presumably they will be calling my trashman a refuse transportation analyst at some point), revert, network (it still isn't okay)...I am sure there are more. Incidentally, one game I used to play at the above mentioned job was to sprinkle obscure but clever-sounding words in my conversations with my boss and see how many he would start using...simpler times, simple joys :)

chiph 7y ago
So you weren't able to fulfill his ask? (another misuse of a verb as a noun)
- brianmcc 7y ago
  Or take away any valuable "learnings"?
theandrewbailey 7y ago
I remember asking people "What's learnings" whenever they used that word. Another one: "performant"; just use "fast" instead.

dandare 7y ago

Everybody at my company is building MVPs, even though they are not searching for product-market fit nor testing any assumptions about the product. What they really want to say is they release early / release often. It makes me cringe every time an exec uses "MVP" as a buzzword.