Professionals Are Addicted to Buzzwords

Why are so many smart, accomplished IT and business professionals addicted to buzzwords? These trite, overused terms and phrases litter our daily dialogue like a self-replicating computer virus. What's more, many technology and business folks understand how tiresome these words are, and they will roll their eyes when colleagues use them. Some will even vow to never use tech and business buzzwords, but, somehow, they'll eventually find themselves dropping one of these clichés in a meeting or other workplace conversation. Perhaps it's an inescapable gravitational pull toward these hackneyed expressions. Many businesspeople have resigned themselves to accepting these catchphrases as a professional crutch of sorts, a linguistic convenience that prevents them from talking like, well, normal human beings. With this in mind, we bring you the following list of our 10 most annoying buzzwords and phrases that are frequently used in technology and business discussions. (If you'd like to add some "favorites" of your own, add them to the "Leave a Comment" section below the slideshow.)