The 15 most annoying IT-speak clichés

Archived on Thu Mar 3 17:41:03 2005

Sports figures are the most notorious for uttering annoying clichés to reporters, probably because there is nothing original that now can be said by an athlete or coach. After some 150 years of the media covering athletics, most every situation has happened and everything's already been said. Lines such as "We play them one at a time," "Our players gave 110 percent out there," and "We'll have to bring our 'A' game to win" are yawningly familiar.

Same goes for almost any kind of reporting -- including IT news. Any journalist on the job for more than 24 hours knows that wherever company officials walk, well-worn clichés are sure to follow.

I suppose it was only a matter of time, but somebody has put together a formidable list of IT reporting clichés. When I read it, I laughed and I cried.

Here is the list:

1. At the end of the day
2. Solution
3. Thinking outside the box
4. Synergy
5. Paradigm
6. Metrics
7. Take it offline
8. Redeployed people
9. Core Competency
10. Win-win
11. Value-added
12. Get on the same page
13. Customer-centric
14. Generation X
15. Alignment

Now, tell the truth: Can you read the above list without a smirky smile, nodding your head knowingly, rolling your eyes -- or all of the above? Also, truthfully: How many of these do you use in your daily routine?

I personally want to thank Megan Santosus of CIO.com and temporary staffing company Accountemps, which surveyed 150 executives to come up with the list. CIO.com is a site I read regularly because it does well to avoid clichés in its reporting.

We at IT Manager's Journal also strive to avoid clichés at all costs; we accomplish this by giving 110 percent each day to our work.


http://www.itmanagersjournal.com/article.pl?sid=05/02/27/0350232