A look at the most annoying workplace jargon and why people are bothered so much

Transcript

DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:

Now we're going to take a deep dive into something that's been on our radar.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Yeah. We at MORNING EDITION just want to circle back to make sure we're on the same page about something. It's a new survey about the most annoying office jargon.

ESTRIN: A recent poll by the company Preply asked white-collar workers to weigh in on the words and terms they are most sick of hearing at work. The No. 1 most annoying term on the survey - drumroll, please - circling back.

FADEL: Oh.

ESTRIN: It turns out that people are not fans of coworkers saying touching base or pinging each other.

FADEL: Oh, so, Daniel, I think we might be these annoying coworkers here. But is that going to stop me from using this jargon? No. To unpack why certain workplace jargon can be so irritating, we hopped on a call to ask Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster.

PETER SOKOLOWSKI: When we see terms like fast-paced environment or entrepreneurial spirit or to wear many hats, they become kind of cliches, and they lose their intensity. They lose a little bit of their meaning.

ESTRIN: Sokolowski says words that are supposed to bring clarity can start to sound empty if the boss uses them too much.

SOKOLOWSKI: In English, we value clarity and we value simplicity. And especially when explaining complicated ideas, the words that ring true are the ones that break ideas down.

FADEL: So when language is used to create emotional distance - like calling layoffs a reduction in force - people notice and they get annoyed.

ESTRIN: But Sokolowski says workplace jargon does have its place.

SOKOLOWSKI: Another one that people love to hate is onboarding. But the fact is, of course, onboarding serves a function, and if you step back from it, you can realize that, yes, to, you know, give a quick survey of a new workplace to a new employee - there is a utility to that, and maybe we need a name for that.

FADEL: I mean, we could just call it training. But anyway, people tend to be pretty conservative with their language habits, Sokolowski says. So when we hear new words, they can get under our skin pretty quickly.

SOKOLOWSKI: We all have peeves about language. We all have preferences about language. And typically, because language always changes, we notice those changes, and we almost always hate the changes that we notice.

ESTRIN: But, Leila, you never irritate me with your office jargon, so keep on going.

FADEL: (Laughter) Thanks.

ESTRIN: And a little word from the wise - before you ask a coworker to think outside the box, maybe take your own advice and find another way to say that. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.