buzzword

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A buzzword (also fashion word and vogue word) is a term of art, salesmanship, politics, or technical jargon^[1] that is used in the media and wider society outside of its originally narrow technical context.

Buzzwords differ from jargon in that jargon is esoteric but precisely defined terminology used for ease of communication between specialists in a given field, whereas a buzzword (which often develops from the appropriation of technical jargon) is often used in a more general way.

Reported examples of the use of buzzwords

• Thought-control via intentional vagueness. In management, by stating organization goals with opaque words of unclear meaning; their positive connotations prevent questioning of intent, especially when many buzzwords are used.^[2] (See newspeak)
• To inflate the trivial to something of importance and stature.
• To impress a judge or an examiner by seeming to know a legal psychologic theory or a quantum physics principle, by name-dropping it, e.g. "cognitive dissonance", the "Heisenberg uncertainty principle".
• To camouflage chit-chat saying nothing.

Individual examples

Below are a few examples of words that are commonly used as buzzwords. For a more complete list, see list of buzzwords.

• Going forward
• Leverage
• Long tail^[3]
• Next generation^[4]
• Paradigm^[5]
• Paradigm shift^[6]
• Incentivize
• Fun

See also

• Buzzword bingo
• Buzzword compliant
• Golden hammer
• List of buzzwords
• Marketing buzz
• Marketing speak
• Memetics
• Power word
• Psychobabble
• Virtue word
• Weasel word

Footnotes

1. ^ Lundin, Leigh (2009-12-31). "Buzzwords– bang * splat !". Buzzwords. Criminal Brief. http://www.criminalbrief.com/?p=10866. 
2. ^ Politics and the English Language
3. ^ The Register: The Long Tail's maths begin to crumble
4. ^ Evolt: Buzzword Bingo
5. ^ "The Buzzword Bingo Book: The Complete, Definitive Guide to the Underground Workplace Game of Doublespeak", author: Benjamin Yoskovitz, publisher: Villard, ISBN 978-0375753480
6. ^ Cnet.com's Top 10 Buzzwords

Further reading

• Negus, K. Pickering, M. 2004. Creativity, Communication and Cultural Value. Sage Publications Ltd
• Collins, David. 2000. Management fads and buzzwords : critical-practical perspectives. London ; New York : Routledge
• Godin, B. 2006. The Knowledge-Based Economy: Conceptual Framework or Buzzword?. The Journal of technology transfer 31 (1): 17-.

External links

Look up buzzword or buzz-phrase in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• The Buzzword Generator Generates buzzwords and sample sentences containing such generated buzzwords
• LanguageMonitor – Watchdog on contemporary English usage
• Mission Statement Generator (on Dilbert website)
• N-Gage At E3 Showcases Immersive Games And Next-Generation Mobile Gaming – an example of buzzwords in action.
• The Web Economy Bullshit Generator
• On living wage, affordable housing, etc.
• View buzzwords, add buzzwords, comment on buzzwords
• The Online Dictionary of Language Terminology
• Guide to Corporate Buzzwords, Part 1 - a look at buzzwords in Corporate America