Brett Tudor’s recent plea to members of the ‘Simply Business’ group on LinkedIn – ‘Can anyone think of some examples of office slang, or phrases peculiar to the corporate environment? I’m doing some research on the subject for an article’ – prompted me to recall a ‘Buzz Word Generator’ that I was given when I started my first job in the training world.

The idea is that, in order to sound as if you know what you’re talking about, you choose any one word – at random if you like – from each of the three columns. There are ten words in each column, so you have a choice of a large number of permutations. If you’re clever, I was told, you can use this Buzz Word Generator for years and no one will ever know you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Why not try it for yourself? Here’s the Buzz Word Generator I was given:

Column 1                                            Column 2                                Column 3

Critical                                                 Operational                             Climate

Intrinsic                                                Validatory                                Orientation

Cumulative                                          Attitude                                    Profile

Accelerated                                         Developmental                        Situation

Linear                                                  Heuristic                                  Analysis

Simultaneous                                      Mathetical                               Plateau

Polyvalent                                           Coaching                                 Criterion

Diagnostic                                           Kinaesthetic                            Behaviour

Integrated                                            Reciprocal                               Programme

Adaptive                                              Structured                               Evaluation

Thus, you could talk about an ‘accelerated developmental situation’ but, equally, you could discuss a ‘cumulative coaching climate’ and so on. Have fun amazing – and confusing – your friends, enemies and business colleagues.