Interesting post and thread at Signal vs Noise on the overuse of buzzwords, particularly on job applications. One thing caught my eye, though: the assumption that shorter, briefer is better. One commenter wrote: “I’ve always noticed that the shortest emails come from those with the most power in the organization.” That’s probably because they’re using a BlackBerry. Shorter isn’t necessarily better, although it might be. Clarity is better. Not always the same thing. (Having just read through a dozen award applications I see a crying need for clarity.)
Anyway some horrible buzzwords that crop up in the comments or my head:
- anything with 2.0 in it
- ‘space’ meaning market
- ‘interface’ as a verb
- stakeholder
- grow as a transitive verb
- more buzzwords here.
My question is–should we not be using buzzwords when we’re talking about the buzz directly? Everyone loves to write about web 2.0…so it makes sense to reference that fact when you’re pointing out something that’s relevant, but more interesting than what’s getting most of the press right now.
Or maybe the buzz has officially gone to my head, and we’re all perpetuating this madness by trying to separate the real buzz from the buzz-hype.
Or maybe I should just buzz off…
Interesting post, though. I think we fall more in the habit of using buzz words too often verbally though, as opposed to in writing.