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BUZZWORD COMPLIANT DICTIONARY
I
IAMS: It's About Me Stupid. An attitude taken by employees that manifests itself by
doing personal things on company time. "I'm not finishing that project today. I
haven't had sufficient IAMS time."
Nominated by Dave Linabury
Ideavirus:
Would you believe a deadly form of thinking? No, then try this. It’s a concept
created by marketer Seth Godin, pushing the concept that ideas are the new currency of business. So he
wrote a new book/manifesto called the Ideavirus, which unto itself is an ideavirus.
Seth urges you to come up with a new idea and then spread it through the Internet using
e-mail and "viral marketing" techniques. The object is to get people to embrace
the idea and support it. To do that, Seth allows you to download his book for free
(it’s $40 at Amazon.com) with the hope that you will begin to see him as the great
king of ideaviruses and buy the book for all the people in your company. Plus, now that
he’s the top Ideavirus guru, you can also hire him to be a highly paid consultant.
Smells a little familiar, doesn’t it.
ID-10T error:
IT code word for user error. ID-10T translates to "idiot."
idiotoxic: An idea, concept or activity that is toxic or dangerous because of the idiocy on
which it is based. Commonly found in political campaigns, closing arguments in courts of
law and governmental regulations. Originally coined by humorist Jim Boren.
Nominated by Brian Hoag
IKWIWWISI: The frustrating and all-too-frequent response by upper management execs.
"I’ll Know What I Want When I See It." The short version: "I'll Know
It When I See It."
Nominated by Heidi Leinonen
I-mail: E-mail sent to peers, subordinates, supervisors, etc., that excessively uses the
pronoun "I." Such messages usually extol the achievements of the sender for
completing a given task -- whether it be a special project or a routine assignment.
Nominated by Chris Hereford
IMglish or imglish:
The secret and evolving language of Instant Messaging. The
collection of abbreviations, acronyms and shorthand that allows
IMers to say whole sentences in three to five letters – and keep
parents and employers in the dark.
See
BuzzWhack's list of 462 IMglish translations.
immi-merce: Thanks to the Internet, immigrants are increasingly "sending" their
hard-earned cash back home by shopping at Web sites based in their native countries.
impactful, impactfulness: Two contrived words created by folks who obviously felt that the word
"impact" needed a little extra "oomph." Examples: "The two
companies are forging an impactful strategic alliance." "Entries will be judged
on their overall effectiveness and creative impactfulness."
Nominated by Curtis Harkins
IMpause:
The annoying silence on the other end of the phone as the person you're
talking to pauses to answer an Instant Message.
Nominated by
James Huston
incent:
Another case of business bastardizing the language. Incentive is a perfectly good word,
but business decided it needed a verb form. "How are we going to incent the Sales
Team to sell more?" How about giving them incentives?
Nominated by Jacqueline Celenza
inch
pebbles: Small, incremental achievements. "The first
step to is to break down large tasks (milestones) into multiple small tasks (inch
pebbles)."
Nominated by Colin Dunn
Individual Contributor (IC): Consultant-speak
used to distinguish the peons who do all the work from
the folks in management roles.
"The project failed due to low IC morale."
Nominated by
Ambrose Alward
Induhvidual:
A person who is less intelligent and less astonishingly attractive than
you are. If you're a Dilbert and Dogbert fan,
this one will sound familiar. It was coined in 1995 by a Scott Adams'
devotee, responding to a naming contest to describe anyone who doesn't
keep up with Dogbert.
industry leader:
Term often used in a company’s marketing copy to narrowly focus
attention on a particular strength (and away from the company’s
weaknesses). “Acme Inc. is an industry leader in the use of buzzwords in
press releases.”
Nominated by
Robert J. Van Leeuwen
infonesia, Internesia: Infonesia is the inability to remember where you spotted a piece of information
(newspaper, e-mail, TV, etc.). Internesia is when you can't remember which Web site the
info came from or which bookmark might get you back there.
Nominated by Patty Bonnstetter
information architect:
A hugely inventive and successful way in which librarians
(and a host of other wannabes) have made themselves relevant to computers and the
Internet. An information architect's job is to balance the needs of Web site sponsors, the
users and the designers so that information is presented in a manner that makes all
concerned happier -- and the architect richer.
Nominated by Cho Ullas
information leakage: Digital equivalent of "loose lips sink ships." Information leakage
results when a programming flaw inadvertently reveals sensitive information as data passes
through the Internet. Result: Someone spotting the flaw could use that info to hack the
originating computer system.
Nominated by Gregory Annen
information
touchpoint:
Any contact in which information is shared or transferred. Yes, meetings
are information touchpoints.
Nomated by Justin
Westcott
infotisements: Word mutilation
reaches a new low. These are advertisements that run primarily in e-mail newsletters and
appear to be editorial matter, but actually promote a company’s products and
services. It’s a steal from the world of print advertising, which calls them
"advertorials."
inner geek: The "techie" deep within each of us. It's what we turn to when we're
searching for that abstract clue to help us unlock the secret to our favorite computer
game or software program. "If I could just get in touch with my 'inner geek,' I could
reach the next level."
Nominated by Ted Arnold
innovicide:
To kill a new idea. "Jack's
concept was brilliant, but management
committed innovicide again."
Nominated by
John Mackenzie
in silico:
The computer version of "in vitro." "We've created a computer model of the
forest fire and now we're letting it burn in silico to see what it might
do."
Nominated by Steve Llanso
insourcing: The process of looking
inside the company to find someone with the needed skills to perform a certain job. This
happens a lot in an economic slowdown. "The budget's tight, we'd better insource this
one."
Nominated by Cade Bryant
Integrity Deficit
Disorder: A politically correct term for describing a
person who doesn't know there's a difference between honesty and deceit.
Nominated by David Miller
Intel Inside:
A nifty marketing ploy used by semiconductor maker Intel in the '90s to make everyone
think it was important to buy a computer that carried an Intel computer chip. Pssssst, it
worked.
intellectual
infrastructure: The human components -- knowledge, skills
and abilities -- required for businesses and organizations to function effectively. Often
used by IT folks when referring to a skilled workforce. "We have the computing power.
We just don't have the intellectual infrastructure."
Nominated by Vona Van Cleef
interdependent
partnering: "Partnering" has become so overused
that in order for it to sound important the BuzzMakers feel compelled to add another layer
of obfuscation. Doesn't partnering naturally create mutual dependence?
Nominated by Jason Plansky
internal
community:
Consultant-speak for "employees."
Nominated by Kaye
Felgate
Internet speed:
You’re definitely not cool if your company isn’t running at Internet speed.
Internut: A
term of endearment referring to those whose lives seem to have been consumed by the
Internet.
Nominated by Kevin Hewitt
interstitials:
Those annoying Web pages, generally carrying ads, that pop up in front
of the page you're actually hoping to read.
intraview: A formal sit-down with an internal job applicant to discuss his or her
qualifications.
Nominated by Vic Chopra
intrapreneurial:
An individual or group effort within a larger organization
that takes an entrepreneurial approach to develop new ideas and products, often bucking
the bureaucracy in the process. Originally coined by Gifford Pinchot in 1978.
Nominated by Sue Pietrowski
inventrepreneur:
The new breed of business-savvy inventors, that not only create the
product, but also handle its marketing and sales.
Nominated by
Dave Linabury
in-virtual
meeting: Thanks (or no thanks) to BlackBerries and wireless
laptops, it's a meeting in which most of the participants physically present are
simultaneously holding "virtual" meetings via e-mail with people outside the
room. First coined by John Katzman, CEO of The Princeton Review.
Nominated by Evan Schnittman
Iraqnophobia: The fear of anything Iraqi. A condition increasingly aggravated by the talk of
war, biological weapons and terrorism.
issuematic: A user-friendly substitute for "problematic" that attempts to create a
positive out of a negative. "Jack's behavior is issuematic."
Nominated by Allen Crosby
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