Buzzword
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A buzzword (also fashion word) is a term of art, salesmanship, politics, or technical jargon that is used in the media and wider society outside of its originally narrow technical context, often in an inaccurate manner, or for purposes other than the conveying of information.
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, inaccurately or inappropriately. A person who chooses to use buzzwords may have one or more of the following objectives:
- Intentional vagueness. In management or politics, opaque words of unclear meaning may be used: their positive connotations prevents questioning of intent. The most notable essay on this theme is George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" (See newspeak)
- A desire to impress a judge, an examiner, an audience, or a readership, or to win an argument, through name-dropping of esoteric and poorly understood terms in an attempt to inflate trivial ideas to something of importance.
Therefore a phrase is not in itself a buzzword: it becomes one in the context of inappropriate usage or usage with an ulterior motive.
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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
- Next generation
- Paradigm
- Paradigm shift
- Incentivize
See also
- Buzzword bingo
- Buzzword compliant
- Golden hammer
- List of buzzwords
- Marketing buzz
- Marketing speak
- Memetics
- Power word
- Psychobabble
- Virtue word
- Weasel word
Footnotes
- ^ Lundin, Leigh (2009-12-31). "Buzzwords– bang * splat !". Buzzwords. Criminal Brief. http://www.criminalbrief.com/?p=10866.
- ^ George Orwell. Politics and the English Language, 1946.[1]
- ^ The Register: The Long Tail's maths begin to crumble
- ^ Evolt: Buzzword Bingo
- ^ "The Buzzword Bingo Book: The Complete, Definitive Guide to the Underground Workplace Game of Doublespeak", author: Benjamin Yoskovitz, publisher: Villard, ISBN 978-0-375-75348-0
- ^ 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
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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
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