One that drives me crazy now hot just in business but everywhere is the word ISSUE. There are no problems anymore, only issues.
I hate emails that end with “please advise”.
You have an issue with the term "issue."
Time to reach outside of the box.
Where I am there are no problems, only ‘opportunities’.
‘Houston, we have an issue.’
Saying that Anthony Perkins (Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”) was crazy would be judgmental. Saying he had “issues” is accepting, tolerant and not psychologically harmful. It shows obvious sophistication and deep understanding kon the part of the speaker. It’s also a way the speaker has of differentiating himself from those grubby Bible clinging, gun toting nasty people.
Issues are things that are important for which there are also complications. If it is important, but there are no complications, then it is not an issue. If there are complications, but is not important, then it is not an issue.
That aside, my vote for the most overused Biz Buzz Word of the year is "stakeholder". It is frequently so ill-defined that it might refer to everyone from the company CEO to someone who inadvertently drops one of your products on his foot.
I used to duel with management over this when I worked telephone support back in the mid-nineties. We were not permitted to describe anything as a "Problem." This was seen as negative and perjorative of the company's good image. We could call the customer's problems one of two things: "Issues" or (cringe) "Features."
If you've never had to tell an enraged, crying, flamingly gay Broadway lighting designer "the behavior you are experiencing is a 'feature' of our product," you just haven't lived!
Likewise, I can’t stand when people say “challenge” when they mean “problem”.
..and with that the term.."Moving Forward"...really gets me...as if the problem/issue doesn't need to be adequately addressed or is shoved under the rug.
Problems and issues have been combined into the deadly "challenge."
“Going Forward” drives me nut.
That one and “reach out” take tops for me.