April 7, 2006

While sitting in rush hour traffic this morning, I couldn't help but notice that one of the businesses I passed by was sporting a huge advertisement boasting some sort of "Spring Has Sprung" sale.

That is probably the twentieth time I have seen that phrase used in an advertisement in the past week and it has inspired me to compile a list of completely over-used phrases that just bug the heck out of me.

1. Spring has sprung (This is particularly annoying in Oregon -- I mean, have you looked outside recently???)
2. To blog or not to blog (Seriously, if I see one more blog post with this title...)
3. The Long Tail
4. At the end of the day
5. Where the rubber meets the road
6. Think different (my, what splendid use of grammar!)
7. PR is dead (Sorry, as a PR professional I feel obligated to include this one)
8. Step up to the plate
9. Any phrase that includes two or more of the following: scalable, robust, end-to-end, next-generation and/or turnkey
10. Seasoned management team (Wow, do you prefer your executives cajun-spiced or zesty Italian style?)

To anyone guilty of using these items -- stop the insanity!

(Okay, this concludes my Friday morning rant.)

Posted by at April 7, 2006

Comments

gordon email -

You forgot my favorite... "Let's take that offline"

Dee Rambeau email - http://adventures-in-business-communications.blogsite.com

how about these?

1. When it's all said and done (if it truly is...then why are you still talking?)

2. Solution

3. At a very high level

4. take ownership

5. IMHO

ARGGGGGHHHH!

Tara email - www.marqui.com/blog

Excellent contributions! Although, I confess I don't mind people using "let's take this offline" since it usually means the end of a boring side discussion in a meeting that's probably too long anyway.

Of course, I'm also guilty of using "solution," but then it gets tiring just to say product and software all the time...

Fan email -

That's indeed useful for non-English-native-speakers like me. Everybody a good weekend!

alan herrell - the head lemur email - theheadlemur.typepad.com

Tara,

Your post while it has merit, puts you very close to be tossed out of the PR union.

I offer the following to enable you to remain in good standing.

Perhaps a re-engineering of your current world view will re-energize your online nomenclature to enable a new holistic interactive enterprise internet communication solution.

Upscaling the resurgent networking exchange solutions, achieving a breakaway systemic electronic data interchange system synchronization, thereby exploiting technical environments for mission critical broad based capacity constrained systems.

Fundamentally transforming well designed actionable information whose semantic content is virtually null.

To more fully clarify the current exchange, a few aggregate issues will require addressing to facilitate this distributed communication venue.

In integrating non-aligned structures into existing legacy systems, a holistic gateway blueprint is a backward compatible packaging tangible of immeasurable strategic value in right-sizing conceptual frameworks when thinking outside the box.

This being said, the ownership issues inherent in dominant thematic implementations cannot be understated vis-a vis document distribution on a real operating system consisting primarily of elements regarded as outdated and therefore impelling as a integrated out sourcing avenue to facilitate multi-level name value pairing in static components.

In order to properly merge and articulate these core assets, an acquisition statement outlining the information architecture, leading to a racheting up of convergence across the organic platform is an opportunity without precedent in current applicability transactional modeling.

Implementing these goals requires a careful examination to encompass an increasing complex out sourcing disbursement to ensure the extant parameters are not exceeded while focusing on infrastructure cohesion.

Dynamic demand forecasting indicates that a mainstream approach may establish a basis for leading-edge information proc

Tara email - www.marqui.com

You crack me up, Alan. The sad thing is that does bear a startling resemblance to some press releases that have actually crossed the wire...

alan herrell - the head lemur email - theheadlemur.typepad.com

Quite a few years ago , late 90's,at Evolt, the mail list was going on about phrases and words that p*ssed folks off.

I used to be one of 'those' INDUSTRY folks and got a ton of magazines.

The above is from the new greeking

http://www.lemurzone.com/notes/greeking.htm

and in conclusion

Empowerment in information design literacy demands the immediate and complete disregard of the entire contents of this cyberspace communication.

Janet email - www.marqui.com/blog

Alan, I'm laughing out loud right now. Thank you for the delightful read. Nice to hear from you again.

What a hoot.

Lindsay email -

A couple of additions...of course these aren't phrases...blogosphere and blogs...let's see if we can some other descriptors - these are getting old.

Cheryle Ross email - www.infocus.com

You have got to read "Who Moved My Blackberry" by Lucy Kellaway. It's the story - told through a series of emails - of Martin Lukes, a self-obsessed marketing director of a fictitious global conglomerate. Martin is particulary fond of using these annoying phrases whether he's emailing his wife, his boss, his "life coach", or his teenage son. Hilarious!

P.S. - Hi Janet!

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