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&lt;p&gt;Another entry for the folder marked &quot;things we probably didn&#39;t need a university researcher to tell us&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Apparently the use of business jargon is more likely to make people think you&#39;re lying. According to BNet, &quot;the study is out of New York University and a Swiss university and shows that when you want to seem believable and trustworthy, concrete language is the way to go.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No, really: there are times when you might want to &lt;em&gt;seem&lt;/em&gt; believable and trustworthy&amp;mdash;as opposed to all those other times when you&#39;re happy to come off as a flaky liar. Best to keep that sincerity for when you really need it, eh?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, on the rare occasion that you want people to believe what&#39;s coming out of your mouth, apparently it behooves you to sound like, well, a normal human being, rather than a robot programmed to ejaculate business-speak.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&#39;s a handy list of some key terms you may want to avoid&amp;mdash;with possible alternatives thrown in for good measure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Business-speak&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;            &lt;strong&gt;What people who aren&#39;t liars say&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Reach out&quot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;&quot;Talk to/phone/email/send carrier pigeon to&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt; &quot;Deep dive&quot; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;&quot;Instead of doing our usual half-assed job, we took the time&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; to investigate properly&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt; &quot;Circle back&quot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;&quot;We&#39;ll discuss this again--ideally when we actually know something about it&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt; &quot;Soup to nuts&quot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;&quot;Things are so broken we couldn&#39;t patch them anymore, so we&#39;re&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; going to fix them properly&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt; &quot;Deliverables&quot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;&quot;Mundane tasks I am responsible for completing&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt; &quot;Ballpark&quot; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;&quot;I have no idea. But here&#39;s a guess&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt; &quot;Verbiage&quot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;&quot;Words&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt; &quot;Let&#39;s take this offline&quot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;&quot;Let&#39;s talk about this after the meeting, so we don&#39;t &lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; embarrass ourselves in front of the boss/waste everyone else&#39;s time&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course, that merely scratches the surface of the horrors of business jargon, but consider it the point where the fun starts: why not submit your own pet peeves below? Bonus points are available in categories including the funniest, most egregious and best translations to normal-speak. Have at it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read More:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BNet:&lt;/strong&gt; Business Jargon Makes People Think You&#39;re Lying, Study Says&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can You Tell if an MBA is a Liar and a Cheat?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;--Phil Stott, Vault.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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