The UK’s most common corporate buzzwords – and their meanings

20/05/2024

Most Brits have heard a wide variety of corporate jargon used in the modern-day workplace, from being told that you need to ‘get the ball rolling’ to asking a colleague to ‘hit the ground running’ on a particular project, there are dozens of phrases used in workplace conversation.

In fact, two-thirds of the British population (66%) use corporate jargon phrases regularly.
Google searches for ‘corporate slang’ have also increased by 129% compared to this time last year, and with more than 400,000 posts on TikTok with the hashtag #CorporateLife and almost half a billion views coming from the UK alone over the last 12 months, we decided it was about time we explored this topic more.

To find out all about the UK’s favourite, least favourite and most misunderstood corporate phrases, we surveyed 2,000 workers across a variety of industries.

The buzzwords misunderstood the most

When it comes to the nation’s favourite office buzzwords, there are a number of sayings that can often sound alien to us.

In fact, the least understood corporate phrase was the term ‘move the needle’ with nearly two in five Brits (36%) admitting they don’t know what this means.

This corporate phrase means to make a change that is noticeable and is often used in discussions about achieving goals.

After ‘move the needle’ the other corporate phrases that Brits were the least likely to understand were ‘synergise’ and ‘low hanging fruit’, with each phrase confusing one third of the nation (33%).

‘Synergise’ is a term used to describe two people acting together in synergy.

‘Low hanging fruit’ is used to describe something that is easy to obtain or achieve, such as hitting a target with ease or little effort required.

In fourth place is the corporate phrase ‘blue sky thinking,’ with just under one third (32%) of the nation admit they don’t understand. The term means to brainstorm ideas with no limits.

Completing the top five most misunderstood jargon list is ‘run up the flagpole’ with three in ten (29%) Brits unsure of its meaning. It does in fact mean to test out an idea or gauge an interest in something.

How do people react when faced with corporate slang they don’t understand?

Almost nine in ten working Brits (87%) are faced with phrases they don’t fully understand, on a regular basis. This is roughly 47 million adults in the UK that struggle to understand all corporate slang.

More than a third of Brits (35%) feel stupid or embarrassed when corporate phrases they don’t understand are used in conversation in the workplace, which is a significant chunk of the British workforce.

Almost three in five (57%) recruitment and HR workers said that their lack of corporate buzzword knowledge has made them feel stupid and/or embarrassed.

Those working in information technology (50%), energy & utilities (48%), environment & agriculture (45%) and law (43%) are also the most likely to have felt embarrassment about this.

More than one-third of British workers (35%) would say nothing at the time, if faced with a phrase they don’t know. However, will then walk away from the conversation and Google the meaning of the phrase.

A braver one in six workers (16%) admitted they would simply turn to one of their colleagues and ask them to explain, if they heard a corporate buzzword they didn’t understand.

How are corporate buzzwords affecting people careers?

Whilst some individuals will choose not to use corporate jargon in their day-to-day lives, some workers feel as though their misunderstanding of certain words can actually affect their success in their careers.

In the information technology sector, half of workers (51%) believe their lack of knowledge towards corporate phrases seriously affects their ability to speak up in work meetings, rendering them unable to get their points across effectively in a professional environment.

This is closely followed by those working in environment and agriculture (50%), law (43%), recruitment and HR (41%) and business, consulting & management (34%) with employees in these industries also more likely to be concerned about how their lack of knowledge on corporate jargon affects their job.

Over one in five Brits (18%) believe that their lack of understanding of corporate slang has even affected their chances of earning a promotion or a pay rise, perhaps signalling they need to ‘touch base’ with their manager more!

The sector in the UK that feels as though they are the hardest hit are those working in business, consulting and management, with a third (31%) of workers believing their chance of a pay rise has been affected by them not knowing the full range of corporate jargon being used.

In addition, one in five working in accountancy, and banking and finance (21%) believe that it has affected their chance of a promotion, the highest percentage of working in any sector.

Does use of corporate jargon vary depending on where you’re from?

Although workers in different sectors feel the brunt of corporate jargon in a variety of ways, how does this regionally?
 
Well, Bristolians are in fact crowned the slang savviest people in the UK, with a quarter (25%) of residents admitting they know all of the phrases used in the glossary below.

This is a stark comparison to the residents of Newcastle, with Geordies being crowned the least likely to have heard of all of the common corporate jargon terms and know their meanings. 

This includes almost two-fifths (37%) that don’t understand half of the phrases presented to them and just one in 12 (8%) understanding them all.

Mancunians are the most curious customers in the UK, with more than two in five (43%) of Mancs claiming they would be intrigued to find out what the phrases they weren’t sure on, meant.

The people of Belfast are the most affected in work meetings, with two-fifths (42%) claiming their lack of understanding of corporate jargon hinders their ability to speak up in meetings.

Meanwhile, more than a quarter (26%) of Mancunians believe their misunderstanding of corporate phrases has limited their chance of a pay rise.

Overall, Liverpudlians are the least likely to use corporate buzzwords regularly, with half of the city (49%) admitting that they aren’t well-versed in day-to-day life.

Between genders, men are twice as unlikely to be bothered by their lack of corporate jargon knowledge than women. A third of the women (32%) claimed it would make them feel embarrassed, in contrast to just one in every six men (17%).

Expert says leaders should be “inclusive” with language and encourages workers to “ask questions” 

Psychologist and Certified Coach, Ruth Kudzi, commented: “It is common to feel embarrassed if people use terms or jargon that we don’t understand, particularly if it is in a professional setting.

"The psychological reasoning behind this is because the panic of not understanding something someone says induces a ‘fight or flight’ state, where we feel irritated with ourselves or anxious about how we are being perceived externally. This feeling is amplified when in a group setting or put under pressure one-on-one.

“It is normal for people within a sector or company to have certain words for tasks or processes, but it’s important for leaders to be inclusive with their language and keep things simple. Likewise, if you don’t understand certain words, the best course of action is to ask your colleagues questions, as this will help to break down the jargon barriers.”

SEO and Digital PR Manager for tombola, Samantha Wilcox believes that the findings show a great diversity in the way the modern workplace operates:

“From our research it’s clear to see that there is such a wide range of attitudes towards corporate jargon, with some workers making it part of their daily vocabulary, whilst others completely loathe it and that’s perfectly normal, especially when not everybody is used to hearing these phrases all of the time.

“According to the research, there is a perception that workers that don’t understand office jargon are less likely to progress at work, with women feeling particularly left behind. Ensuring that both leaders and employees make a conscious effort to use inclusive language, is a way to avoid these feelings.  

“Learning a whole new set of vocabulary can be time consuming, particularly on top of a day job, so we’ve created the ultimate corporate crib sheet to help people out. If you’re left feeling confused like the rest of the nation, hopefully this should help!”

The official corporate jargon glossary

With the below glossary you should never feel embarrassed in your work meeting again, get the ball rolling and check out the full definitions of those tricky phrases below!

Conclusion

Whether you believe you’re getting “bang for buck” or you’re simply “comparing apples to apples”, we are a nation of corporate jargon lovers and haters.

Our research has shown that although corporate jargon is here to stay and widely accepted across multiple industries, there are sectors across the UK that are far more understanding of corporate jargon than others.

Office-based roles such as recruitment and HR, business, consulting & management, and information technology are used to hearing these phrases in the workplace more often than other manually skilled jobs, such as property and construction.

You should simply make hay of your manager’s open-door policy if you are struggling to come to terms with any of these confusing or perplexing phrases!

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