words that make you shudder.

[Mark T Jones]

Following on from the entrepreneur thread, what innocuous words have become abused to the extent that they make you shudder?

For me, ‘opportunity ‘ tops the list. Every time I hear it I fully expect to be offered some kind of scam or, at best a shabby MLM scheme

Then ‘disruptive’

And, of course ‘reach out’

 

[Deleted member 59730]

For me, ‘opportunity ‘ tops the list. Every time I hear it I fully expect to be offered some kind of scam or, at best a shabby MLM scheme

And when May uses it to sell us a bum deal with the EU!

 

[itsnathanhere]

'Growth hacking' is an instant tune-out for me. I assume it's going to be a blog post that follows the age-old format:

1. Promise of more sales, more conversions - hell, more of everything you ever wanted
2. But first, a personal anecdote
3. Don't forget, we're giving you lots of great benefits soon, just keep reading!
4. Talk about when I achieved hard-to-believe success without saying how
5. Testimonials for some reaso... oh never mind it's one of these
6. Find out how at my seminar, book your seat today for just £599

 

[Mr D]

'Let me share this with you' - I'll usually look for the nearest exit.

 

[AllUpHere]

The tiny little word 'so', when unnecessarily used to start a sentence, tells me I'm dealing with a Wally.
Equally, over or inappropriate use of 'myself'. Example, "would you like to attend a quick meeting with myself".
No, I bloody well would not.

 

[dan19900]

Boot strapping, lean start up, Entrepreneur, influencer, leverage.

 

[simon field]

moist.

 

[Mark T Jones]

moist.

Sorry. I can’t thank you for this one. Moist is a wonderful word

 

[estwig]

I have an aversion to the word 'no', I don't like to hear it.

 

[Noah]

So, these are by now old and hoary - my, don't our paradigms shift quickly as we scoot up the on-ramp to the information super-highway! - but if only for nostalgia's sake :

. awesome

. passionate

. self-referential "excited"

I'll second "disruptive", "reach out", and "So..." (of course), if only for emphasis because they are so unnecessarily irritating.

 

[Mark T Jones]

So, these are by now old and hoary - my, don't our paradigms shift quickly as we scoot up the on-ramp to the information super-highway! - but if only for nostalgia's sake :

. awesome

. passionate

. self-referential "excited"

I'll second "disruptive", "reach out", and "So..." (of course), if only for emphasis because they are so unnecessarily irritating.

Oh God yes - we are passionate about customer service

 

[Ian J]

The tiny little word 'so', when unnecessarily used to start a sentence, tells me I'm dealing with a Wally.

I think that's one of the perversions of the English language introduced by the popular American TV series "Friends"

 

[Ian J]

Boot strapping, lean start up, Entrepreneur, influencer, leverage.

Skin in the game

 

[Noah]

Oh God yes - we are passionate about customer service

Tsch! Needs more hyperbole to be credible.

"We are excited to be passionate about our awesome customer service!!!"

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

There used to be a saying that you don't hear as much now

"self motivated "

Anybody that can get out of bed in the morning is self motivated !

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

I'm pregnant.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

Millennials...

 

[owas]

Happy days!!

 

[Gecko001]

Use of the word unbelievable and its synonyms, such as incredible, astonishing, extraordinary when describing something that is quite believable.

 

[Gecko001]

Going forward
Stakeholder

 

[patientlady]

The tiny little word 'so', when unnecessarily used to start a sentence, tells me I'm dealing with a Wally.
Equally, over or inappropriate use of 'myself'. Example, "would you like to attend a quick meeting with myself".
No, I bloody well would not.

I am going to stop using 'so' i use it all the time - err used!

 

[Newchodge]

Wealth creators

 

[Noah]

Use of the word unbelievable and its synonyms, such as incredible, astonishing, extraordinary when describing something that is quite believable.

Sorry, but I find that quite discombobulous.

 

[The Byre]

Paradigm, esp. if it's a paradigm shift! That's a rule change in English.

Algorithm - it's just a routine!

At the end of the day. What day? Today? Tomorrow? When?

Not fit for purpose. Try saying 'useless' instead!

On-going. That's the little English word 'still'.

Stake-holders. Name these poor people! Customers? Employees? Investors? Who?

Touch base. That'll be to talk.

Bandwidth - unless you are talking about audio or electromagnetic radiation, shut up!

Real time - same again - it's a technical term, meaning zero latency.

Cross pollinating - are you a bee, or is that your new euphemism for exchanging body-fluids?

Re-imagine and re-invent. That'll be 'remember' and 'copy'.

When people use that kind of drivel, I make them rephrase their words in English. When it comes to pretentious business-talk, I can get quite blunt and abrasive!

 

[Newchodge]

blunt and abrasive!

That means angry

 

[The Byre]

That means angry

I never, or at least almost never, get angry. That would imply emotion. I don't do emotions.

 

[Higgsy]

"(So and so) is cheaper than you" - Excellent, go use them.

 

[STDFR33]

Sorry. I can’t thank you for this one. Moist is a wonderful word

Unless used in the same sentence as 'granny'.

 

[HFE Signs]

When people ring and say 'Hello and how are you today', as if they care, you know they're starting a lousy sales pitch. Just for the record, I'm feeling awesome today

 

[Blaby Loyal]

"Business recovery"

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

Can I drop in a curve ball and mention "jacket potato"?

It's a baked potato....not a spud in a coat.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

* It's

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

My apologies. Now corrected.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

 

[Mark T Jones]

Unless used in the same sentence as 'granny'.

 

[AllUpHere]

Unless used in the same sentence as 'granny'.

I worry about you. You see the word moist, and the first word that pops into your mind is granny.

 

[STDFR33]

I worry about you. You see the word moist, and the first word that pops into your mind is granny.

You've caught me. I'm really Wayne Rooney.

 

[MikeJ]

"Quite unique". Along with "very unique", "somewhat unique" and even "a bit unique".

It either is or it isn't. It's like being pregnant. There's no half measures.

"For Free".

It's either Free, or it's for no charge/at no cost. It's not "for free".

 

[Blaby Loyal]

Free fuel worth £50

 

[SteveHa]

The word "The" when it precedes "HMRC" and "HMRC" is not followed by a noun.