English Business Jargon and Slang

Suzan St. Maur

• Publisher: Business Expert Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781948976084
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Communication
• Index: Business

Jargon and slang have wormed their way into almost every business document, speech, and conversation that we have today. With online business communications being much more conversational and informal than the written business communications of the past, they positively encourage the use of figurative speech: ergo, more jargon, more slang. This book is by no means all encompassing, but the author has researched and shared several hundred of the most commonly used terms. Not only do we now know what they all mean but, where appropriate, we also learn their origins—some of which are fascinating and very surprising. A very valuable handbook for any student or practitioner in business to help demystify this crazy language called "English."

A

A Dime a Dozen: a metaphor meaning plentiful and cheap, as in a dime (just 10 US cents) would pay for 12 units of whatever was concerned. The term probably originates from the USA in the 19th century when fruits and vegetables were in season and plentiful, and so were sold for a “dime a dozen.” Perhaps not as cheap as all that though; a dime in 1850 would be worth around USD $2.95 (2016 value). Still, even today that’s not expensive for 12 good quality pieces of fruit or vegetables!

A Gray Area: something not certain, and possibly not trustworthy. ­Perhaps a slightly unfair reference to the color gray, being neither white nor black and so unclear and rather vague, the term has been in use since the mid-20th century and is used to describe something that is not ­certain, and possibly not trustworthy. For example, “there is a large gray area between what is legal and what is not.”

A Lemon: not a piece of citrus fruit, but a word used to describe a product or service that doesn’t work, for whatever reason. Common examples of “a lemon” include a car that is always breaking down or has manufacturing faults and investments that fail to make money. No one seems to know exactly why the word “lemon” has come to describe such bad things, but it’s probably connected with the lemon’s bitter, sour taste.

A Life Saver: not literally someone or something that saves your life, but a metaphor for some good luck or timely help that will get you out of a potentially difficult situation in your business or social life.

A Month of Sundays: a phrase meaning a long time, possibly never. A month of Sundays wouldn’t really be that long, however; 31 weeks, only around seven months or so. The expression has been in use in English since the mid-18th century—possibly longer.

A Pain in the Neck: a source of irritation. It can also be a pain in a ­number of other body parts—most of which are considered rude! Origins are unclear but likely to be from the USA, from about 1900 or so.

A Piece of Cake: something that is very easy to do, perform, make, and so on. The term originates from the USA in the late 19th century when cake was given out as prizes for competitions that were very easy to win. (Certainly does not originate from cooking/baking, though, unless you’re an expert!)

A Toss-Up: (also “tossup”): a reference to the tossing of a coin to see whether “heads” or “tails” will win a dispute, in the USA around the mid-18th century. The term now can be used to describe a time when a choice must be made among alternatives, or even as an adjective describing a place, event or political situation that’s doubtful in some way—for ­example, “a tossup county” (meaning one in which there are no clear election favorites).

Above and Beyond: a reference to the act of putting in extra effort, work, time, and so on without expecting reward. This is tautology, really, because the two words mean almost the same thing, but are used together in this expression to emphasize their point.

Act Out: to perform in the way that an actor does or a reference to ­people in business who are “acting out” a role that they may not necessarily be good at or qualified for. It’s also used in role play training exercises, where you “act out” the role of an angry customer, bossy colleague, bullied coworker, and so on.

Act Up: an American expression meaning to make a fuss, get angry, or otherwise misbehave. The term is commonly used to describe what children do sometimes, especially at very inconvenient moments, but can also happen in the workplace and so needs to be dealt with. It can also be used when talking about a machine, medical condition, car, and so on that is being troublesome, for example, “the laser printer is acting up again.”

Advertorial: a contemporary marketing communications hybrid. Essentially it is a paid advertisement that is produced in a publication or ­website so that it looks like an article, in supposedly “editorial” style. Most advertorial pieces are badly written and do no favors to their authors.

All Ears: listening and concentrating totally on what someone is saying. Apparently the term was first used back in the 18th century.

All and Sundry: (or Various and Sundry): everyone or everything connected with the person or occasion. The term has a very long history, going back as far as the 1400s, and according to some experts its roots go back even further via Middle and Old English. A contemporary example is: “When she got engaged she rushed to tell all and sundry her good news.”

Analytics: a relatively new word for statistics. It usually refers to the statistics you get from systems that analyze things such as your website traffic, online sales, clicks, and so on.

Anchor: a presenter or journalist (mainly in television news and some documentary programs) who stays in the studio and leads each section, handing over to reporters or other media people who are out reporting from the actual place where the news story is taking place. The word anchor is used because of its original meaning, the “anchor” of a ship (a huge hook that is dropped to the bottom of the water to attach itself to something and so prevent the ship from moving).

Angels: a term frequently used to describe individuals and organizations with money who look at new/renewed business proposals and decide whether or not to invest some of their money in those opportunities.

Annual Leave: holidays or vacation. The term usually is used by more formal businesses and professions because it sounds more, well, ­formal! It probably comes from army jargon where being “on leave” is a term that has been used in several English-speaking countries for many years.

Arbitrage: a profit big businesses hope to achieve by buying an asset and selling it immediately at a higher price. It is usually done when there are strong price differences between buying and selling, and only works out well once in a while.

Arrangement: in the music business, it is how a simple song concept is developed and expanded for various instrument parts and vocals (singing parts). An arrangement can consist of music created for a few guitars and a solo singer, right up to an arrangement for an entire orchestra.

Asset Stripping: when company A buys company B, and then sells off at a profit as many parts of company B as it can. Once that is done, company A is likely to sell what is left of company B for very little and with no thought to its brand values, employees, or customers.

At the Drop of a Hat: quickly and easily. The term is from the USA in the 19th century when races or other competitions were often started by someone either waving or dropping a hat. Given that all involved had to get moving very fast, the expression came to mean to do something quickly and easily, for example, “he would come over to help you at the drop of a hat.”

At the End of the Day: a phrase which means “finally.” Popular in the late 20th century when there were several such phrases circulating in business which, being longer than needed to express a simple point, were said to give the speaker a little more time to think about what they were going to say next.

At This Moment in Time: now. This is another example of a long phrase when just one word will do. As with “at the end of the day,” in the late 20th century this phrase also was popular as a way of “buying time” to figure out the point they were actually going to make.

Autocue: teleprompter. Like many other words which have crept into English as brand names, the brand name “Autocue” is now widely used to describe any electronic prompting device speakers use so they can read from a script, but not appear to be using any help. A one-way screen is used to reflect the text on the speaker’s side, but from the other side it is invisible. In TV or video this screen is placed over the camera, and for a live speech one or two of these screens are placed on the lectern. The speaker can control the speed at which the text scrolls through. Look out for these screens the next time you see a very senior politician giving a speech—although not all politicians use Autocue.

B

BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) (no doubt pronounced, as an acronym, as “bee-hags!”): a term used to describe a goal or objective in business that is very ambitious and will make the business concerned really stretch itself, but is a goal that will inspire everyone to work hard to achieve it.

BOGO: an acronym that stands for buy one, get one, usually either free or at a reduced price, such as half off. This is a common type of ­special offer you see in grocery stores and other places where fast moving ­consumer goods (FMCG) are sold.

BPM: initials that stand for business process management, which is a particular program that monitors and supports a business’s functions. It is enshrined in a number of different software packages to make the process happen, hence BPMS (Business Process Management Software).

Baby Boomers: the generation of people born just after the end of World War II (up to about 1965), when their parents had recovered from the fear of war time so thought it was safe to bring more children into the western world—hence a “boom” of babies. These “Baby Boomers” now are getting old but still have a lot of influence on things such as investments, pensions, health care, and so on.

Backing Track: in the music business, refers to the recording of an entire song without the vocals, as you might have with karaoke! Often singers wil...

Table of contents

• Covrt
• halftitle
• title
• halftitle
• Abs
• Abs
• bcover