Episode 149: Business Buzzwords to Elevate your Professional Fluency

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Ian: Hey everyone, you are listening to Coffee with Gringos. I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige:  And I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And today we're going to be talking about business buzzwords. Business buzzwords are special or specific words—vocabulary words—that are used in certain industries, in certain companies, and these are words that typically you don't learn in a general English class. It's something that you really have to discuss with someone who knows these words or you discover them in the workplace, in many cases. So, this is a topic I discuss a lot with my students, especially those who are in the business world, so hopefully, these will offer some alternatives to some other words that are really used too commonly. So, again, listeners, as always, if you get lost, go online and check out that audio guide and transcript at www.dynamicenglish.cl. So, Paige, sometimes we talk about how easy it is to use the same words over and over. We’ve had previous episodes about this and so today we're going to be talking a little bit about some alternatives that you can either use or that you at least will hear if you're working with people in business. So, like I said, these are not really that common to know if you're just taking a regular English class and so, I think this will be beneficial for our learners today.

Paige: Of course, yeah. I mean, I feel like, when you're in the office, there's just a certain jargon list of words that you use especially when you're making presentations and you're talking about growth in the business. So, it’s good to have in your back pocket for sure. So, I guess I'll just start off the first one. (It’s) pretty common and it's definitely used a lot because as a business, you're always trying to grow and in order to do that, you have these goals that you're trying to reach and so, this word is “milestone”. And you hear it a lot where say, “For quarter-four we reached $50,000 in sales. That was a huge milestone.” And so that means it was a really important moment in the business where you reached a certain goal or exceeded a goal. And so thus it becomes a milestone. Companies usually have many different milestones, important moments, that they like to talk to where “In quarter one we reached this milestone. In quarter two, (we reached) this...” So, it's basically just a fancier word for a certain goal that you want to highlight.

Ian: Yeah, that's a really great description and I think one more thing to point out to listeners is that “milestone”, we typically use this word only after we've achieved the goal. So, if you're speaking in a future tense or if you're speaking before that, then you're probably going to refer to it as a “goal”—you're not going to refer to it as a milestone until you've achieved that. So, just a little tip there to help out our listeners on that one.

Paige: Definitely. That's a good point to add. What about you, Ian? What’s one that you hear a lot in the office?

Ian: Yes, so one that I used to hear a lot in the office, due to when I worked in business back in the US, was the word “streamline”. And streamline basically is we're saying to improve efficiency within a company in different ways. That could be through combining functions or reducing waste. It's typically a business decision. It’s typically an accounting decision, really. And so unfortunately what we usually have associated with streamline is it means people are usually fired or they're laid off. And so, like I mentioned, when I worked in telecom in the US, we heard this word used a lot, unfortunately, because within the industry and within my company actually, there were a lot of layoffs. So, we would always hear these words be thrown around like “streamline” and “reductions” and they're alluding to people are going to be laid off so we can look at it in ways of trying to be more efficient, more cost-effective, but a lot of times, it means something negative for the employee. But another example we could see is “We decided to streamline the process by having the cashier at the coffee shop also pour the coffee instead of having to separate employees for each function.” So, that would be another situation in which a business just wants to minimize that cost and combine those functions. So, this is, unfortunately, one that we hear a lot in business.

Paige: Fair. It’s like you hear it and you're like, oh, shoot. Do I still have a job tomorrow?

Paige: Hey, Ian. Did you know besides the podcast, Dynamic English offers one-on-one classes with native teachers from all over the world?

Ian: Really? But isn't it just a bunch of grammar lessons?

Paige: Nope, it's completely discussion-based and focuses on topics the student is interested in.

Ian: That's amazing. But what if I'm not living in Chile?

Paige: No problem. Dynamic does online classes. You can be living anywhere.

Ian: Great, but I'm a little intimidated to take the class alone. Can I join with a friend?

Paige: Of course. Dynamic offers group classes of up to four. Plus, for the next month, Coffee with Gringos listeners get 10% off individual or group classes. So go online to www.dynamicenglish.cl and mention that you are a listener and get your discount.

Ian: Well, I'm sold. Sign me up.

Paige: Another one that I hear a lot and I think this doesn't always need to apply to business but I think it's used a lot in business because you're meeting in teams and brainstorming to think “outside the box.” And basically, that just means that you're thinking of something that isn't the norm. It’s maybe a little innovative, maybe a little creative and it's just a way that you say each quarter your sales are increasing, you can't do the same thing that you're doing, you need to “think outside the box” and find a solution that's going to give us growth because we haven't been doing it. We need to mix it up. We need to do something different. And other ways to think “outside the box” if you're competing against a competitor in the field, you need something that's going to put you at an advantage to them and that's a good way that you would think outside the box. How can we change our business model from theirs so that we're getting their customers? So, it's a very common phrase when you're brainstorming and trying to think of innovative solutions.

Ian: Exactly. A lot of these on this list, I mean, all of these are pretty common, but I'd say “outside of the box” could be possibly the most common one. So, like you said, we hear it a lot used in business but I think, just in general, it's a very common way to say just be creative, be innovative in your thinking.

Paige: Exactly.

Ian: Great. Another one that's a little bit more specific and I think less commonly used is “move the needle.” This is another one that we hear a lot of times when we're talking about, I think financials. So, if we're talking about specific financials, or we're looking at a financial chart or a graph or something like that, we're really looking to generate positive reactions in some way. So that could be increasing revenue, increasing sales, basically driving positive results for the company in some kind of a metric. So, I typically tell people, if you look at, for example, an index or a stock market chart, you see the little dot—a little ball that moves up and down the chart. In English, we call this the “needle” and so, for this reason, we have the same. “Move the needle”—we want to move that indicator that's on that graph. We want to move it upwards. So, again, generating a positive reaction, moving that needle in a positive way, whatever business metric that might be.

Paige: Another one is very American because it's based in baseball, which is, if not the most popular sport in the US, it’s definitely up there. And so, these next two are very confusing if you don't know what baseball is or anything about it but it's been used a lot in business. And so, this one is called “ballpark” and it's not necessarily geared only at business. You can use it in everyday life, but I think it's used in business a lot because it revolves around estimates and numbers which are used a lot in business and so if you say, “Hey, I want to buy your product. What’s a ballpark price for me to pay for that product?”  And so, all that means is “estimate “. What is not an exact number but what's around that number you give me that's around the exact number. And the reason it's called “ballpark”, is because, in baseball, you play in a ballpark, which is a big stadium. And so, it's not an exact number. There’s a big area to cover and so that's why you say “ballpark” because it’s not ten. Maybe it's fifteen, maybe it's five. So, it's around the vicinity of that number, but it's not the exact number. So, it's called a “ballpark,” which is an estimate. The other one is “moving up to the majors”, which isn't as popular as “ballpark” is which is very, very popular. “Moving up to the majors” is again referring to baseball, and so in baseball, there's the minor leagues and the major leagues. Usually the minor leagues, you play in until you can move up to the majors, so it's a promotion. And so, in business, if you are working as say a sales rep, and you're “moving up to the majors”, it means that you became a sales rep and maybe you’re a senior sales rep. You’re promoted, so you're going from a lower position, like the minors, to a higher position like the majors. So again, very baseball, locker room talk but it is used definitely in business.

Ian: Yeah, very cultural these two ones that we see on this list alluding to America's traditional baseball sport. So, we see that “ballpark” and “called up to the majors” and I tell a lot of students, these are two on the list that you probably aren't going to hear used if you're speaking with English speakers that are from North America or in the US. So, if you're talking to European English speakers or Australian English speakers or anywhere else, they probably aren't going to use these terms. So, if you hear someone use these terms, there’s probably a good chance they’re from the US or you're working within that US market. Another good one that we see here that's a good visual representation, in my mind at least, is “peel the onion.” And “peel the onion” is like it sounds—you’re examining a problem one layer or one step at a time. So, this is usually used for pretty complex problems or projects in which you need to look at it one piece at a time. You can't tackle it all at once, so you are examining each step to get to the final result. So, an example could be, “We’re losing customers at an alarming rate. We really need to peel the onion with what's happening, so we can figure out the cause and improve our numbers.” So, we need to examine something that's going on, but again it's complex. It's not a one-and-done solution.

Paige: Yeah, in an onion, there are many layers so it's not one thing. There are many reasons why so you have to look behind all those layers. Yeah, like you said, it's very visual and it's not only just business. I think that phrase is used a lot, where maybe you're in therapy with your boyfriend and you're figuring out why you're always fighting and you need to “peel back the onion” to find all those layers of, oh it's because of this and then this and then this. So, there's not just that one problem, so I think it's used beyond business but definitely in business because it's very solution-oriented. Another good one that again isn't always used in business but it's used in business a lot is “circle back” and this is something where say you're giving a business presentation and someone asks a really good question but you need to move on to the next, you say, “That was a great question. We’re going to circle back to that at the end. We don't have time right now.” And so basically all it means is, you will get to that, it's just going to do it at a later time, so you're circling back. So, it's very common, you know at a presentation, if you're speaking, giving a business proposal that you would say that to move the conversation along but address that you are going to address it at a later moment.

Ian: Exactly. That's a great description. That’s like saying, “We understand this is important but we have something else to discuss now. We’re going to return to it.” It's a way of saying, “I'm not forgetting what you're bringing up. We just need to cover this topic first and then we'll get to that.” So, it's a great way and, again, another good visual of coming back around to something. So, that's a really good one. So, Paige and I just went through some of these that are very common that you might hear in office, especially in a United States working environment. So, there are many, many more that we could cover so please feel free to go online and check out some of those and maybe even try to use some of them if you're in this kind of a situation, or at least understand what's being said if you're working with people that use these. So, listeners as we mentioned earlier, if you get lost, go online and check out that audio guide and transcript at www.dynamicenglish.cl. As always, thanks for listening.

Paige: We'll see you next time.

Ian: “Coffee with Gringos” officially has over one hundred episodes and we are among the “Top Podcasts in Chile”. And that’s thanks to you. But we are always working to grow our audience so make sure to rate sure to rate, review and share us.  

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     jargon (noun): special words or expressions that are used by a particular group or profession that is often difficult for others to understand.

a.     There is always so much legal jargon included in advertising.

2.     in one’s back pocket (idiom): available to use as a resource for one’s advantage whenever needed; in reserve.

a.     It’s good to have this information in your back pocket as we move forward.

3.     to exceed (verb): be greater in number or size; to go beyond what is originally set or planned.

a.      We exceeded our monthly sales goal of $40,000.

4.     telecom (noun, abbreviation): telecommunications.

a.      The telecom industry can be intense and high-paced.

5.     to allude (verb): to suggest or call attention to something indirectly; to hint.

a.     He was alluding to the high costs that the agency was asking for the project.

6.     innovative (adjective): new; original; creative; advanced.

a.      There is a new innovative method being practiced by the firm.

7.     metric (noun): a system or standard of measurement.  

a.     We are tracking all of the metrics in the analysis to determine our solution.

8.     to gear (verb): to prepare or adjust for a particular purpose or need.

a.     These phrases are not only geared towards business, but also everyday life.

9.     vicinity (noun): the area near or surrounding a particular place.

a.     The number of people living in the vicinity is small.

10.  rep (noun, abbreviation): a representative

a.     The sales rep continued to try to sell to the woman even though she wasn’t interested.

11.  to tackle (verb): to make efforts to deal with a problem or difficult task.

a.     We need to tackle next quarter’s budget cuts to ensure success.

12.  to address (verb): to think about and begin to deal with an issue or problem.

a.     We need to address last month’s decrease in sales.