As Mary says, “100% effort means full capacity, and is commendable.  Exaggerating commitment to 110%, 200%, 500% makes no sense, and is meaningless jargon that should be avoided in business writing.”

I’m with you on this, Mary.  I once had a boss who was a serial offender.  In meetings with clients he’d proclaim, “We’re dedicated to your success a thousand percent.”  I’d try my best (100%) not to groan and roll my eyes.

Now that we’re fired up on the subject of egregious business jargon, what are some other examples?  For starters, here are a few, with suggestions for correction.

• Out of pocket – unavailable
• Bandwidth – capacity
• Human capital – people
• Leverage (as a verb) – to take advantage of
• Dialogue – talk
• Impact (as a verb) – to have an effect on

Let’s strike a blow for the language and push back against (I mean resist) offensive and confusing jargon.

What are your pet peeves? Let me know and I’ll compile a collection in a future post.