Jargon and corporate-speak that drive communicators crazy

Someday technology will reach a point where our helmet-mounted computers will sound an alarm whenever we even think about typing a cliché.

Meanwhile, a low-tech resource abounds for those seeking to avoid tired usages, bureaucratic phrases, corporate jargon and plain old confused English: other writers.

Ask fellow wordsmiths what words and phrases they eschew, and you may find yourself reconsidering usages that hadn’t bothered you before. At least that’s what many writers are telling us.

For a recent Ragan.com article, we issued a call among the writers at Gotham Ghostwriters for their most hated clichés and bad usages. Jocular souls that we are, we called these “vampire words,” a term we borrowed from Copyblogger.

A Perseid shower of e-mails came streaking in too late for our deadline. But in the interest of avoiding bureaucratic and jargon-infested prose, here is another round of pet peeves from some pros:

Corporate-speak

Writer Bruce Tallerman says he has long enjoyed making fun of corporate-speak. “It just gets better and funnier,” he writes.