Justifiable Verbicide

Are there expressions you're sick unto death of hearing all the time? Phrases that have lost all meaning because of overuse and are now nothing more than verbal ballast that holds down the impact of more important thoughts?

You're not alone. This article I found the other day lists and discusses some of the most egregious examples of useless business jargon assailing your ears today. Here's their "top" ten list:

Outside the box. The only thing this expression is good for is generating cartoons, such as ...

And,

Low-hanging fruit. We lazy people like low-hanging fruit. Picking it saves time and energy.

Synergy. Sinning, but with plenty of oomph behind it?

Loop me in. Reminds me of the famous Sam Goodwyn comment, "Include me out!".

Best of breed. Does anyone (except Republican and Democratic campaign committees, of course) ever try to select the worst of breed?

Incentivize. Whatever happened to the good old, make it worth your while?

Mission-critical. I guess plain old essential just doesn't have the necessary gravitas any more.

Bring to the table. No thanks. Just leave your dumbass idea over there, please.

Value-add. Actually, I could get to like the concept of value-add(ed), particularly in an election season. Unfortunately, nobody in any political party has anything of value to add.

Elevator pitch. Which, oddly enough, is not something you use to waterproof your elevator.

There are others that didn't make the list for some reason which are just as bad. I don't know how they could possibly have missed "At the end of the day," for instance.

There's an old New England saying that admonishes us to "Never break the silence unless you can improve on it." Wouldn't it be nice if more people took that advice?

As I am going to do now.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo