English Corporate Language | 21 Examples of Jargon, Buzzwords, & Corporate Speak

Corporate speak, buzzwords jargon.

The English speaking business world is littered with phrasal verbs,

idiomatic expressions,

and smart sounding phrases that sound like a completely

different language, not the English that you've learned. For example,

let's touch base tomorrow, or let's circle back on that tomorrow.

If you've ever been in a business meeting and left thinking,

I have no idea what anyone said in that meeting.

Then you've likely experienced a conversation full of

invented terms and industry-specific jargon.

English business jargon is words and phrases that employees

use to share information express ideas, give details.

And so on.

What's frustrating about jargon is it's often unnecessary

business jargon might sound smart and creative,

but it can often be replaced by language that is simpler

and more concise in today's Confident English lesson.

You're going to learn 21 business jargon examples in English.

I want you to know the most common examples of current buzzwords.

So you understand the conversations happening around you at work.

And in this lesson today, I'll be answering the question.

Should you also be using this English business jargon when you speak?

Let me quickly introduce myself just in case. This is your first time here.

I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English.

Everything I do here is designed to help you get the confidence you want for

your life and work in English.

One way I do that is with my weekly Confident English lessons,

where I share my top fluency and confidence, building strategies,

targeted grammar and advanced level vocabulary,

just like in this lesson today. So while you're here,

make sure you give this lesson a thumbs up and subscribe to my speak,

Confident English channel on YouTube. So you never miss one of my lessons.

Also today, I have to give a shout out to one of my students, Luis,

who inspired this lesson.

He's been working in the corporate world in Canada for years now,

and he's been keeping a steady list of common buzzwords and business

jargon that he hears along the way. So Luis,

thank you so much for inspiring this lesson today.

Now with these 21 examples of English business jargon that I'm going to share

with you today,

I've organized them into categories based on the purpose

of that particular word or phrase.

And along the way I'll translate what the jargon really means with clear,

accurate word choices. Now, category number one or purpose.

Number one for a series of corporate speak is to buy

yourself some time.

Sometimes we don't immediately have our thoughts organized enough to express

them aloud. We need a little bit of time to contemplate,

put our ideas together before we speak.

And that's where buying yourself some time can be particularly useful.

Some common examples of business jargon that you're likely to hear when someone

is buying herself some time include.

I'm just trying to think through this.

Could you give me a moment to think through something translates into the

reality that you're still evaluating or problem solving.

You're not ready to express your thoughts aloud a second common example

for buying yourself some time that's particularly current is let me

circle back with, or let me circle back on this later.

In other words, let me come back to you and talk about this at a later date.

And lastly, I'm still wrapping my head around this.

What that translates to is I'm still processing,

or I'm still trying to understand this particular situation,

or I'm still trying to understand what was said now,

before we get into category, number two,

let's look at a quick common scenario where you might use one of these

expressions.

Let's say you're in a meeting and a team member proposes a different approach

to your marketing strategy.

You might need some time to evaluate that idea and you're not prepared to share

your thoughts at that moment. You could say that's a good idea.

I'm just trying to think through how we might implement it.

And now our next set of English business jargon relates to the purpose

of strengthening communication. As you know,

when working with a team clear lines of communication are essential

for efficiency and great performance.

And in every business meeting,

there are multiple instances in which you may need to provide clarification or

delegate particular tasks to do that.

Here are some common examples of jargon. You're likely to hear.

I wanted to clear this with you first.

What that translates into is I need your approval or I need some feedback

from you. Another example is please keep me in the loop on this.

What that means is keep me informed or keep me up to date.

And a third example you're likely to hear is I need to bring you up to speed

with, and what that means is I need to update you.

I need to provide some specific details to provide you with a thorough update.

Once again,

let's imagine a scenario where you might use one of these examples of

jargon.

Let's say a team member has been away on vacation and missed some important

changes that were implemented. When that team member returns,

you might say, I know a lot has changed, but don't worry.

I'm gonna bring you up to speed on everything.

The third purpose that we're going to look at today for using business jargon is

to express caution or to warn others of something.

From time to time in a business meeting,

there are topics of conversation that come up where warning signs

start to go off. And when that happens,

you might hear a team member or your boss say,

be careful with that one. It can open up a can of worms. In other words,

be careful with that topic or be careful with that strategy.

Be careful with that idea.

It could lead to a troublesome or a complex

situation.

Another expression you might hear is just to be on the safe side.

What that translates into is to take precaution or to

be prepared.

Our third example in this category is there's a caveat to that.

What this means is there's a limiting factor or some kind of warning that we

need to consider. And lastly, let's not put all our eggs in one basket.

This idiomatic expression means that we should avoid putting all of our energy

or resources into just one thing.

Let's take a look at how we might use the third example,

using the word caveat in a common scenario,

perhaps your boss heard from a potential client and that client has

decided to entrust your team with a project. However,

there's a condition in sharing this news with the team.

Your boss might say we got the project, but there's one caveat.

We have to have it finished by the end of the week.

Our fourth purpose for using corporate speak is to

brainstorm with your team meetings.

Of course are a great time for brainstorming because everyone is present.

Everyone has a different perspective and different ideas to bring to the table.

Plus one idea can spark another idea

during this creative process,

you might encourage others to share their thoughts.

You might put something on the back burner or even pitch your own ideas

while all of this happens.

Here are some examples of corporate speak you're likely to hear.

Do you wanna take a stab at it? In other words, do you want to give it a try?

We'll need to flesh this out a little bit more.

To flesh something out means that you need to add more substance.

You need to provide something more concrete or provide more clarity.

A third example of business jargon that you're likely to hear is let's

keep that in our back pocket or keep that in your back pocket.

What that really means is to keep that thought,

that idea available for a later time when it's more

necessary or when it's appropriate. Now,

sometimes in a brainstorming conversation,

you'll hear someone introduce an idea by saying it's a long

shot, but,

and what that means is the idea they're about to propose is far

fetched or unlikely. And although it's unlikely,

it may spark an idea. And when that idea happens,

you might express it by saying, this is just off the top of my head,

but when you start something with this is just off the top of

my head,

what you're really saying is these are my immediate thoughts or reactions.

I haven't fully fleshed them out.

I haven't put a lot of concrete thought to them,

but they're worth sharing anyway.

And now category number five for our 21 examples of business

jargon in English is to guide and encourage your team.

Perhaps everyone's been working particularly hard recently and you know,

they need a bit of encouragement when you're ready to encourage your team.

You might say something like bring your A game.

To bring your A game means to perform at your best or to do

your best.

A second expression you're likely to hear when a team needs encouragement is

we've gotten this far, let's see it through. In other words,

let's continue until this is done, even though it's difficult.

And finally,

let's stop wasting time and get the ball rolling to get the ball rolling

translates into let's begin. Let's get something started.

And now our sixth purpose for using corporate speak or buzzwords is to

express momentum and stability.

All businesses have their ups and downs.

There are times when progress moves forward just as you

predicted.

And there are times when things are slower than anticipated when

describing the momentum or the stability of something.

Here are some examples of jargon.

You're likely to hear we're gaining ground in or

we're losing ground. In for example,

we're gaining ground in the market to gain ground or to lose ground

means to advance or to backtrack, to go backwards.

So if you're gaining ground in the market, you are advancing,

you're taking up a larger market share. And of course, if you're losing ground,

the opposite is happening.

This second example you're likely to hear for this purpose is it's time to get

back into the swing of things.

What this means is it's time to return to your usual routine.

And lastly,

similar to gaining or losing ground is to gain or lose

steam.

Sometimes you'll also hear the word momentum to gain momentum or lose momentum.

What this translates into is to move forward faster or

to go slower.

Let's take a look at how you might use one of these examples in a common

scenario,

perhaps your team has done a great job promoting the launch of an upcoming

product in talking about that promotion,

the marketing manager might say,

we've gained some ground with a younger demographic.

Let's do some brainstorming around social media strategies.

So we don't lose that momentum.

Now that we have these 21 examples of business English jargon,

let's talk about whether or not you should be using this language in your

English conversations. At the start of this lesson,

I highlighted that corporate speak can often be replaced by simpler,

more concise word choices.

And in my lessons on leadership communication,

I've stated that leaders use accurate clear language

when it comes to using jargon.

The truth is many people use it to hide the fact that they don't really

know what to say. They haven't clarified their thoughts.

So they use something that sounds smart and creative.

And the reason people use jargon is everyone else seems to be

using it. Jargon is used because it's popular.

And in some instances it almost becomes its own slang.

When you're communicating with others, if you can choose words that are clear,

simple, and accurate, you will be a better communicator.

So whether or not you should use English business jargon in your

conversations is entirely up to you.

It can be fun to sprinkle in these buzzwords from time to

time more importantly, I want you to understand them.

I want you to go into business meetings and have conversations with team members

without fear.

I want you to understand what is being said now,

before we finish today, I want to ask you a question.

I mentioned earlier that my student Luis has been keeping a list of

examples that he hears in business meetings regularly.

And I'd love to know if there are examples of buzzwords,

corporate speak business jargon that you've heard before,

and you're still not really sure what it means. If so,

share it with me below in the comments.

I'd love to take a look at those examples and make sure that you understand

them, or perhaps you have an expression that you really love using.

If so, again, share it in the comments below.

Thank you so much for joining me this week.

If you found this lesson helpful to you, I would love to know.

You can tell me in one very simple way,

give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube. And while you're at it,

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So you never miss one of my Confident English lessons. Thank you again.

And I'll see you next time.