In May I posted about Michelle Kern’s list of book review clichés. But, of course, book reviewers are not the only ones – or even the worst, I might suggest – to use clichés. They are rife in politics (as those of us living through a Federal election downunder know better than we’d prefer) and management/business. I was consequently delighted by the following statement in my current read (Kate Jennings’ delicious Trouble which I will be reviewing very soon):

A modest proposal. Every time someone in the business world uses jargon, one of their toys or perks will be taken away. ‘Value-added’: there goes the jet. ‘On the same page’: the Porsche. ‘Proactive’: the cigarette boat. ‘Win-win’: the house in Bermuda. ‘Going forward’: the servants. ‘Knowledge base’: the mistress. ‘Strategic fit’: the fancy school for the kids.

If only, eh!

Anyhow, she calls it jargon (defined*, generally, as “the specialised language of a discipline or profession); I call it cliché (“overused expression that lacks originality”). Probably, in this case, it’s both. Certainly, Alan Braidwood on BBC‘s Radio Scotland Blog post titled A-Z of clichés and jargon rolls them into one without even trying to explain. You might like to see his list. There’s another good one, with a brief discussion, from 2009 on the computerweekly.com blog: The jargon terms council leaders want banned. You may like to read the comments there too.

George Orwell would be proud. Meanwhile, I continue to work on keeping them out of my reviews and would be happy for you, my readers, to pull me up any time you see one (or, heaven forbid, some)!

* Both definitions were chosen, for their clarity, from OwLet at LeTourneau University in Texas.