Look, we get it. The hive nature of the business world means you’re bound to pick some jargon or sayings that seem ridiculous, maybe even cliched, at first. Eventually, though, you’ll find yourself saying things in an email like “let’s hop on a call” or you’ll comment on these “trying times”.
We’re begging you, though. Stop.
Those phrases ranked as two of the 10 most cringeworthy email buzzwords of 2021 in a collection put together by The Buzzsaw, an online tool designed to remove jargon from press releases and blog posts. The list is based on submissions from a global collection of editors and correspondents.
There are some surprises on the list. Zoom doesn’t make an appearance, for example. And none of the seemingly infinite business synonyms for working from home are on the list either. But odds are you’ve seen more than a few of these crop up in the past year.
- Cohort
- Close the loop
- Hop on a call
- Hope your [sic] well
- B2H (business to human)
- Mainstream media
- Agile
- ‘Trying times’ / ‘now more than ever’ / ‘new normal’ / ‘nice to e-meet you’ / ‘we’re all in this together’
- We remain cautious
- TLA (three letter acronym)
- Ideate
- Non-fungible
- Woke / curate
- Socials
- Influencer
Others that didn’t make the list, but are still wise to avoid include “human capital,” “circle back,” “going forward,” “reach out,” and “awesome”. (And it’s not on the list, but allow me to make a personal plea to ban “Fri-yay” as well while I’ve got your attention.)
Buzzwords serve some purpose. In an office environment, they can work as shorthand to save time – and they sometimes can make a bad or mediocre idea sound a bit more impressive (if only temporarily). But that doesn’t make them any less annoying or exhausting.
Subscribe to Fortune Daily to get essential business stories straight to your inbox each morning.