There are many words in the English language, but when you work in business like the business lady that you are, not just any words will do. No, you’ll be learning a whole new language. A business language. Here’s another cheat sheet to help you learn enough corporate lingo to climb the ladder. You go, girl! Can people still say that?
What you hear: Let’s try to leverage ______
What it means: We’re out of original ideas, let’s start recycling.
What you hear: Let’s take a 10,000 foot view
What it means: Let’s use a fancy way of saying we need to look at the bigger picture.
What you hear: We’re going to need you to take the lead on this.
What it means: This one’s on you, buddy.
What you hear: We’ll make a viral video.
What it means: We’re not exactly sure how the Internet works, but we’re going to put a video on YouTube and hope more than 38 people view it.
What you hear: Synergy, synergies, synergize.
What it means: Nothing.
What you hear: He’s a real rock star.
What it means: He’s not a rock star at all, he’s an accountant. But he’s an excellent accountant. Like a rock star whose talent helped him rise above obscurity to play sold-out stadiums and sell $45 t-shirts, he has rocked the accounting world with his speed and accuracy and overall business acumen.
What you hear: We’re going to do a deep dive into this.
What it means: We’re going to spend a lot of time on this project. We’re going to live it and breathe it and talk about it a LOT.
What you hear: Who’s cutting their fingernails in the cafeteria again?
What it means: WHO IS CUTTING THEIR FINGERNAILS IN THE CAFETERIA AGAIN? Yeah, people are gross.
