‘Blue sky thinking’ and ‘touch base’ voted Britain’s most hated office phrases – as one in five fear missing promotion due to not knowing corporate jargon

‘Touch base’ and ‘blue sky thinking’ have been named the most hated office phrases by British workers – as one in five fear they will miss out on promotions because they don’t understand the corporate jargon.

Two-thirds of Brits claim to regularly use business jargon, whether they love it or hate it, but some words anger and confuse employees more than others.

A survey of 2,000 people by bingo firm Tombola found that the most hated phrase is ‘touch base’, with 18 percent of votes.

‘Blue sky thinking’ and ‘low hanging fruit’ [easy pickings]’ are in second place at 17 percent and about a third of employees (32 percent and 33 percent) admit they don’t even understand them.

Also included in the top five most hated business phrases were “reinvent the wheel” (10 percent) and “synergize” (11 percent), which turned out to be the most hated word – beating the likes of “bandwidth.” .

Pictured: Office workers walking through London’s Canary Wharf during morning rush hour

The survey also reports that as many as 87 percent of people regularly encounter jargon they do not understand, which equates to approximately 46.7 million people.

As a result, more than a third of Brits (35 percent) have admitted to feeling stupid or embarrassed when corporate expressions they don’t understand are used in the workplace.

The most unknown phrase, with almost two-fifths of votes (36 percent), is “move the needle,” which loosely translates to “making a change that is noticeable.”

Nearly one in five Brits (18 percent) believe their lack of jargon knowledge has affected their chances of promotion or pay rise, and a quarter say it has affected their confidence in speaking out in meetings.

Women seem to be more concerned about their lack of language use; a third (30 percent) say this affects their ability to speak in meetings, compared to just one in seven men (16 percent).

Psychologist Ruth Kudzi says leaders should be “inclusive” with language and encourage employees to ask questions if they don’t understand words or phrases.

Ruth said: ‘It’s common to feel embarrassed when people use terms or jargon that we don’t understand, especially when this happens in a professional environment.

Two-thirds of Brits claim to regularly use business jargon, whether they love it or hate it, but some words anger and confuse employees more than others (stock photo)

‘The psychological reasoning behind this is that the panic of not understanding something someone is saying triggers a ‘fight or flight’ state in which we feel irritated with ourselves or concerned about how we are perceived externally.

‘This feeling is enhanced when you are in a group or under pressure one-on-one.

‘It’s normal for people within an industry or company to have certain words for tasks or processes, but it’s important that leaders use inclusive language and keep things simple.

‘Even if you don’t understand certain words, it’s best to ask your colleagues questions as this will help break down the jargon barriers.’

The research also found that the most commonly used phrase is ‘hit the ground running’, with one in six Brits (16 percent) admitting to using it in the workplace.

Google searches for “corporate jargon” have increased by 23 percent in the past three months, up a whopping 129 percent compared to last year.

Nearly four in ten people (35 percent) would say nothing at the time, but then go away and Google the phrase they didn’t understand.

A quarter of people (25 percent) named Bristol as the city with the best knowledge of business jargon, while Newcastle and Edinburgh were voted the city with the worst knowledge (8 percent).

Samantha Wilcox, SEO and Digital PR Manager at Tombola, who carried out the research, said: ‘The research findings prove that most Brits use corporate jargon as part of their everyday language in the workplace, but there are many people who are completely unaware of this are. what these sentences mean, which makes them feel confused and frustrated.

‘According to the research, there is a perception that employees who do not understand office jargon are less likely to progress at work, with women in particular feeling left behind.

‘Learning a whole new vocabulary can be time-consuming, especially on top of a day job, so we created the ultimate business cheat sheet to help people out. If you’re feeling confused like the rest of the country, hopefully this should help.”