Finance502
Cost optimisation
Redundancies, but with a slide deck and a line about 'shaping the organisation for growth'.
"We're entering a cost optimisation phase." Update your CV.
Translation
Layoffs.
Guide
Corporate speak, translated.
Every office has its own dialect. This is the plain-English guide to it: what corporate speak is, why it spreads, and what the most common phrases really mean when you strip the padding out.
What corporate speak actually is
Corporate speak — also called business jargon, office speak or management language — is the shared vocabulary that grows inside organisations. Some of it is useful shorthand: "sprint" saves a paragraph of explanation to anyone who works in software. Some of it exists purely to soften a message, which is how "restructuring", "rightsizing" and "letting people go" all came to mean the same thing.
The dividing line is simple. If removing the phrase makes the sentence clearer, it was padding. If removing it makes the sentence longer, it was doing a job.
Why offices talk like this
- Belonging. Using the vocabulary proves you're inside the group. New starters pick it up within weeks.
- Compression. One word can carry a whole process, which genuinely does save meeting time.
- Distance. Abstract nouns put space between a decision and its consequences — handy if the news is bad.
- Momentum. Phrases spread from consultants to leadership decks to the whole company, long after anyone remembers what they meant.
Common corporate speak, honestly defined
Read entry
HR / People421
We're like a family here
A statement about pay, presented as a statement about warmth.
"Base is under market, but we're like a family here."
Translation
The salary is the perk you don't get.
Tech412
Circle back
To postpone a decision indefinitely while sounding collaborative about it.
"Great question — let's circle back on that after the sprint."
Translation
I have no answer and hope you forget you asked.
Tech388
Tech debt
The pile of shortcuts holding the product together, spoken of like a mortgage nobody intends to pay.
"We'll tackle tech debt next quarter" — said every quarter since 2019.
Translation
The code works and nobody knows why.
Banking361
Deck monkey
An analyst whose life's work is aligning boxes on slide 34 at 3am for a meeting that gets cancelled.
"Two years a deck monkey and I dream in Arial 9pt."
Translation
Junior banker.
Tech356
Quick sync
A 15-minute meeting that reliably consumes 47 minutes and produces one action item assigned to nobody.
"Popping a quick sync in for 4:45pm on Friday."
Translation
I refuse to write this down.
Corporate speak by industry
The dialect changes with the floor you're on. Pick a section to see the jargon that belongs to it.
Tech
Sprints, stand-ups and synergy at scale.
Sales
Pipeline poetry and quota folklore.
Finance
Spreadsheet scripture and EBITDA rituals.
Banking
Deck-building, deal toys and 2am comments.
Marketing
Brand voice, funnels and vibes-led strategy.
Retail
Footfall, shrinkage and peak-season survival.
Consulting
Frameworks for frameworks. Billable.
HR / People
Culture decks and 'informal chats'.
Legal
Redlines, caveats and commercially acceptable risk.
Startups
Runway, pivots and default alive.
How to write without it
Say the thing, then say what happens next. "We're pausing the project until March" beats "we're re-baselining delivery against revised capacity". Keep the jargon that earns its place with people who share it, and drop the rest when you're writing for anyone outside the room.
Corporate speak FAQ
What is corporate speak?
Corporate speak is the specialised vocabulary used inside businesses — words like 'synergy', 'circle back' and 'bandwidth' — that carry a specific workplace meaning, often softer or vaguer than the plain-English equivalent.
Why do people use corporate speak?
Three reasons, mostly. It signals membership of a group, it compresses a long idea into one word, and it lets an awkward message land gently: 'we're restructuring' does less damage than 'people are losing jobs'.
Is corporate speak bad?
Not always. Shared shorthand genuinely speeds up meetings. It turns bad when the jargon replaces the meaning — when nobody in the room could say what was actually decided.
How do I stop using corporate speak?
Write the sentence, then ask what you'd say to a friend in the pub. 'Let's take this offline' becomes 'let's talk after'. If a word survives that test, keep it.