Jargon in the workplace – exercise B – vocabulary and notes
What Job Ads Say And What They Really Mean -a phrase making it clear that information will be of the type that is unseen, not obvious, or difficult to find out. Real is often used in this way, although of course it is no more ‘real’ than other facts already known.
‘The Real Life of….‘ can be a similar indication that you will find out what is often hidden beneath the surface of the usual version of a person’s life.
tongue-in-cheek – jocular, ironical, not intended seriously, humorous
demonstrate – show clear evidence or proof of
perform – do / work to an expected standard
recruitment-speak – here ‘speak‘ is an informal suffix indicating some disapproval -it is often used to form nouns to mean the special language, jargon or terminology characteristic of a particular environment or group subject area or business – eg marketing-speak, corporate-speak, IT-speak. Eg "That’s medical-speak for ‘I haven’t a clue what’s wrong with you. Go home’.
read between the lines – try to understand / interpret someone’s real message, feelings or intentions from what they say or write: Eg Reading between the lines, I’d say they’re relieved he didn’t get the job." – i.e. they have not said so openly, the speaker is deducing their genuine response (but may be wrong!).
buzzwords – pejorative – impressive words and terms which often become fashionable and much over-used, often considered as typical of concepts that sound good but are basically meaningless.
Buzzword Bingo is a form of protest at buzzwords or jargon devised in some workplaces, where participants prepare bingo cards with buzzwords on and tick them off when they are uttered during an event, such as a meeting or speech. Typical words might be ‘vibrant‘ – (lively/ energetic?) – everyone and everywhere has to be vibrant – or a ‘a window of opportunity’ – (why not just an opportunity?). The goal of the game is to tick off a predetermined number of words in a row and then call "Bingo!".
You may have to be very careful if your workplace colleagues play this game – they usually do so very discreetly as a joke that is not shared with their managers!
put in long hours – work / devote long hours of effort / of hard work
to do something – (usually run around) like a headless chicken – to act in a haphazard or aimless way; frantically or without control.
relish – verb – enjoy, take great pleasure in something; approach with zeal or enthusiasm; be pleased with or gratified by; experience pleasure from.
proactive – adj – taking action by causing change and not only reacting to change when it happens (i.e. only being reactive)
a classic case of – a typical example of
hyperbole (stressed on the per) –noun – deliberate or extreme exaggeration or overstatement; a way of speaking or writing that makes someone or something sound bigger, better, more, etc. than they are.
leads – introductions, contacts
chuck – informal – throw
to be thrown in at the deep end – to start doing something new and difficult without help or preparation.
The X factor / the X-factor – the elusive, hard-to-define quality, influence or characteristic that makes sth / sb stand out; a factor with unknown or unforeseeable consequences – eg The X-factor is when the recession will end. In algebra x is an unknown quantity.
stand out head and shoulders from the rest – surpass all others
trick – the solution, device, way to proceed or interpret the situation
HR = Human Resources – the personnel department of an organization, dealing with the recruitment, administration, management and training of employees