We know what you’re thinking. “If my boss tells me to ‘circle back’ to a project one more time, I’m going to ‘circle’ my way right into a new job.” And that’s before you’re told to “pivot” your efforts to create more “synergy” across platforms so you can “own it” for the team and really help the company “scale.” 

Count yourself lucky if you don’t hear these phrases five times a day. Though they’re mostly meaningless, we have a feeling you’re all too familiar with professional workplaces conversations littered with these cliches.

FitSmallBusiness.com, the digital business publication, decided to compile a list of these ridiculous expressions that people use in the workplace.  Who knows? Maybe we can cut some of these phrases out of your boss’s vocabulary. 

You can find the full list of obnoxious workplace expressions and their true meanings here.

Some of the Most Overused Workplace Expressions of 2018

1. Let’s Circle Back – What it really means: “I don’t have an answer for you, leave me alone now.”

2. Shift The Paradigm – “You need to change the way you think.”

3. Ping, Me, Or I’ll Ping You – “I don’t care. Just send me a message.”

4. Marinate On That  – “We’re not sure what’s going on, so let’s think about it longer.”

5. Not My Domain – “Not my problem.”

6. Let’s Create Synergy – “You better work together.”

7. It’s In The Pipeline – “It’s not ready yet.”

8. It Is What It Is  – “I don’t know how else to put this, and I don’t care, end of story.”

9. You Need To Own It – “You need to take responsibility – but not the credit.”

10. It’s In Your Wheelhouse  – “You’d be good at it, so it’s your problem.”

11. Will It Scale? – “This is good.  Let’s do more of it.”

12. I Have A 10,000-Foot View  – “I see everything and nothing at the same time.”

13. You Need to Make Headway – “Make yourself productive already.”

14. It’s The Uber Of… “We have no other logical way to articulate our startup.”

15. At The End Of The Day… – “Thanks for your point, but mine is the only one that matters.”

16. Steer The Ship – “The bosses don’t want to do their jobs so it’s your job now.”

17. Moving Forward – “Don’t ever do whatever you did that way again.”

18. Let’s Pivot  – “That didn’t work, so we’re going in a new direction now.