Corporate Speak

07 Apr 2020 - Berkeley, CA

Use it or lose it, folks!

(Or, take on the Corporate Speak challenge: See if you can avoid using any of these vapid words & phrases like The Plague and still succeed in your career!)

30,000-foot view
Above my pay grade
Across the value chain
Action item
Ad hoc
Agenda
Agile
Ahead of the eight ball
Alpha
Arbiter
As per
ASAP
At the end of the day
At the forefront
At the table
Back to square one
Back to the drawing board
Back-end
Backdrop
Ball is in [their] court
Bandwidth
Bare minimum
Base case
Baseline
Bear the brunt of [it]
Bearish
Become a research or science project
Beefy
Behind closed doors
Benchmark
Best bang for the buck
Best, «insert_name»
Beta
Between a rock and a hard place
Big picture
Big ticket items
Black box
Black sheep
Blow through
Boilerplate
Bolster
Boom boom boom
Boots on the ground
Bottleneck
Bottom line
Brand
Brass tacks
Break the bank
Brick and mortar
Bridge the gap
Bridge the gulf
Bring it all together
Bring it [back] home
Bring to bear
Bring to light
Bring to the fore
Bring [on]to the table
Broad strokes
Build off
Building off
Bullish
Burn the midnight oil
Business as usual
Business-to-business (B2B)
Business-to-consumer (B2C)
Button up
By any stretch of the imagination
By the same token
Call an audible
CapEx
Carry the bag
Carry the torch
Case closed
Challenges and opportunities
Change/changing the conversation
Chase down
Cherry-pick
Churn
Circle back
Clean slate
Closing in [on]
Cohesive
Come full circle
Come into play
Connect the dots
Cookie-cutter
Cooking the books
Core values
Crank
Crank out
Cross the chasm
Cross the valley
Cross-pollination
Cross-talk
Crunch
Crystal clear
Cultivate
Cutting edge
C.Y.A.
Daily grind
Debrief
Decision points
Deep dive
Deliverable
Derail
Dig deep
Dig into [it]
Digitalization
Disconnect
Dive in
Diving in
Dog and pony show (i.e., Pressing of the flesh, greasing of the palms. –Roland, in Schitt’s Creek, S2:E10, “Ronnie’s Party”)
Don’t give them the rope to hang you with
Dot the i’s and cross the t’s
Dovetail
Down the line
Draw straws
Draw the line
Drill down
Drink the Kool-Aid
Drive down
Drive up
Drive the point home
Drop a line
Drop the ball
Dying on the vine
Dynamic
Dynamics
Earmarked
Easy peasy (lemon squeezy)
Echo that
EBITDA
Embark
End all be all
End of day (EoD)
End of life (EoL)
End of week (EoW)
End-to-end (E2E)
Exploratory
Eyesore
Fake it ‘til you make it
Fall on deaf ears
Fall through the cracks
Feed the beast
File it away
Fill a gap
Fill a need
Final product
Finger on the pulse
Finger on the trigger
Fire off
Fire up
First pass
First rodeo
Flashpoints
Flesh out
Follow up
Follow-up
Framework
Fresh start
Front-end
Front-line
Full circle
FYI only
FYR only
Game changing
Gave a nod to
Gap analysis
Gear up [for] [it]
Get down to brass tacks
Get in the game
Get out of a rut
Get over the hump
Get the ball rolling
Getting to yes
Give it a gander
Give it a go
Give it a minute
Give it a run for its money
Give it a shot
Go for broke
Good clip
Good For You (G.F.Y.)
Goose egg (zero)
Go-to items
Go-to person
Go-to-market strategy
Ground zero
Hamstring
Hamstrung
Hang self out to dry
Hard stop
Hard and fast
Harmonization
Hats off
Head in the game
Heads up
Heavy lifting
High level
High-level
Hit the nail on the head
Hodge-podge
Hop on a call
Horror stories
Housekeeping items
Huddle up
I’d be remiss if [I didn’t]…
If it only were
Imagineer
Imagineering
In a past life
In my humble opinion
In no uncertain terms
In our toolbox
In our wheelhouse
In the hopper
In the loop
In the same boat
In the works
Intertwine
It is what it is
Join the conversation
Juggling too many [projects/things]
Jump on a call
Jump through hoops
Just-in-time
Kaizen
Keep [me] posted
Key concepts
Key ideas
Key on it
Key performance indices (KPIs)
Key themes
Kick off
Kick-off
Kudos
Launch
Launchpad
Lay out
Layout
Laying it out
Lead the charge
Leaps and bounds
Left holding the bag
Lessons learned
Let people filter in
Leaving mark
Lever
Levers
Leverage
Leveraging
Life cycle
Light at end of tunnel
Looped in
Lose-lose
Lose your shirt
Low-hanging fruit
Macro trends
Majority share
March on
March forward
Meeting minutes
Meetings
Metrics
Mileage
Milestones
Minimum viable product
Minority share
Mission statement
Motto
Move the needle
My calendar is open
My calendar is up-to-date
My schedule is open
Nail out
Narrative
Need-to-know basis
Negotiate
New era
Nice segue
No quarter
Non-negotiable
Noodle it
Nose to the grindstone
Off the charts
Off the map
Off the plate
Off the radar
Off the rails
Off the table
Off to the races
Off-the-shelf
On deck
On the ball
On the docket
On the ground
On the horizon
On the map
On the plate
On the radar
On the same page
On the table
OoO: Out of Office
Open the kimono
OpEx
Opportunity cost
Organic
Organically
Out of the loop
Out of the hopper
Pain points
Par for the course
Part & parcel
Paradigm shift
Pass the ball
Pass the buck
Pay dividends
Pay to play
Peel back the onion
Pencils down
Phase-gate
Pick-and-shovel play
Pick and choose your battles
Piggyback off someone
Piggybacking
Pillars
Pin down
Ping
Plan of attack
Plan of show
Plant the seed
Play a key role
Players
Plays out
Plow through ‘em
Plug away
Plug-and-chug
Plug-and-play
Plug in
Pound out
Power lunch
Power through
Primary mission
Prime time
Pull back the curtain
Punch through
Punt [it]
Pushback
Push [it] down the field
Push forward
Push through
Put on the table
Put the [issue/matter] to [bed/rest]
Put [a/the] nail in the coffin
Put your money where your mouth is
Quick and dirty
Rabbit hole
Raise a red flag
Raise the bar
Raise the stakes
Raises the question
Re
Ready for prime time
Red flag
Regroup
Reinforce
Resilience
Resiliency
Resilient
Rich
Right out the gate
Rinse and repeat
Robust
Roles and responsibilities (R&R)
Roll back
Roll out
Roll-out
Roped into
Rubber hits the road
Run [it] downfield
Safe harbor
Seamless
Seamless integration
Seat at the table
Seed an idea
Segue
Selling points
Set the stage
Sidebar
Sh!t a brick
Sh!t or get off the pot
Sh!t the bed
Shake [things] up
Shed light on
Shelf docs
Shift gears
Shoot yourself in the foot
Shy away from
Skin in the game
Slipperiness
Smash-up
Social capital
Soundboard
Spin off
Spin-off
Spin up
Spin up an instance
Spit-balling
Spits out
Splitting hairs
Spun up
Stage-gate
Stakeholder
Start from scratch
State of affairs
State of the union
Step up game
Step up to the plate
Stickiness
Stopping horse
Straw man
Streamline
Streamlined
Streamlining
Subject matter expert (SME)
Suss out
Sustainable
Sustainability
Switch gears
Switching gears
Synergies
Synergistic
Synergy
Tackle
Tailwinds
Take a crack at it
Take a hard look at
Take a stab at it
Take a step back
Take it offline
Take [it/that] to another level
Take [it/that] to that bank
Take the lead
Take the reins
Takeaway
Take-home message
Talk the talk
Talking points
Tangent
Tangential
TBD
Tender
Testament to
That ship has sailed
That’s the ticket
The buck stops here
The clock is ticking
The Market
Thought leadership
Throw under the bus
Time is ticking
Time slot
Timelines
Tip of the iceberg
Toolbox
Top of the funnel
Top of the hour
Top-level
Top-line [revenue]
Touch base
Track record
Triple bottom line
Turn the crank
Under the hood
Underserved
Unpack [that]
Up to speed
Use it or lose it
Value chain
Value-add
Vanguard
Vision statement
Walk the walk
Wedge issue
Weigh in [on]
Wheelhouse
White elephant
Wiggle room
Win-win
Wipe the slate clean
Within the business
Wrap up
Wrap it up
Yes factor
You break it, you buy it
Your position is redundant
Zero in

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