Words that make me cringe
Don Watson called them weasel words. Words and phrases that hide the true meaning of what needs to be said to allow someone to weasel out of the truth. Or a phrase that makes the true meaning vague and indistinct. Usually employed by politicians or bureaucrats, but also frequently found in corporate communication.
As a communicator, I know that there are often times when your message is deliberately vague—either you have to say something but you don’t have all the answers yet, or it’s not in the company’s interest to spell it all out.
But that’s no excuse for some of the jargon and vague word usage that we see in job ads, media releases and everyday announcements.
Here are some of my least favourite words, the ones that make me dismiss anything else that follows:
Do you have your own mental list that makes you cringe?
*Original image, Miriam Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lever
