BUZZWORD COMPLIANT DICTIONARY
L

ladder up: To get a consumer to the next step in the buying process, to buy more or to 'step up' to a premium option. "Once customers make a balance transfer using their new credit card, we want them to ladder up to other options."
Nominated by Nancy Wells

landspam: Spam delivered the old-fashioned way - on paper and via your local Postal Service worker. Some of us still call it "junk mail."

LAQs: A publicist's worst nightmare: Lame-ass quotes. In a sound bite world, the last thing you want are LAQs.

late bird: Early birds regularly have been rewarded with discounts for registering ahead of time, but now event planners are adding official "late bird" sign-up periods for the crowd that habitually misses "final" registration deadlines.
Nominated by Paul Nickell

lateral arabesque: To transfer laterally within a company to a different but equal job.
Nominated by Tom Namtvedt

lateraled: To be moved sideways. As in: "I hear you got a big promotion." "No, I got lateraled."

lateral promotion: New title, more responsibility - same pay.
Nominated by Mike Knox

lawn mullet: A lawn that's neatly mowed in the front but uncut in the back.
Nominated by Carol Katarsky

leadager: A person in charge who confuses leadership with micromanagement.

leading: The single most overused word in news releases today. Generally found in the first or second paragraph, it goes something like this: AnyBrandNameHere is the leading TypeOfBusinessHere in the VerticalMarketNameHere. Obviously, the companies in second place aren't sending out news releases.

lean and mean: To run a company at peak efficiency without excess employees, expenses, etc.. The opposite of "fat and happy." When taken too far, the result is "skinny and stupid."
Nominated by Bill Morris

learning opportunity: A great phrase from the spinmeisters that supposedly comforts the stock analysts: It refers to mistakes made that will somehow be turned into future breakthroughs. It’s a nice way of saying someone screwed up and we’re trying to make the best of it.
Nominated by Bob Ralian

legacy: Computers haven't been around all that long, but they've already left a legacy - and for most companies it's a nightmare. As companies move to more modern and sophisticated computer systems they have to find a way to integrate their old or "legacy" systems into the new system. That's not always easy. The old systems often were written specifically for the functions they performed. Data can't always be transferred. In some cases, the old systems have to be kept running and the new systems are rigged to pull data from the older system as necessary.
Nominated by Gert-Jan Blaas

legal scrub: To run an idea, contract language, etc. past the corporate lawyers so they can strip out anything that might result in a lawsuit later. "Make sure you give that list of personnel a legal scrub before you lay them off."
Nominated by Mike Whitaker

leisure guilt: The guilt that comes with taking a vacation or a day off from work. You're so anxiety-ridden about the work you're leaving behind (or will be returning to) that it's less painful not to take time off.
Nominated by Susan Anderson

Lessons Learned: A recap at the end of a project of what worked and didn't worked. The intention is to prevent future project teams from making the same mistakes -- but they do anyway. Mug, shirts available
Nominated by Scott Niehaus

level set: A nice corporate-sounding term bandied around in meetings that simply means "get everyone on the same page."
Nominated by Aaron Levine and Jim Roe

leveraging our assets: This probably meant something once, but today EVERY COMPANY seems to leverage its assets. Doesn't it make sense that a company would put its resources, whether it's money, location or talent, to best use in order to make a profit?

lexicurious: To be curious about the meaning or origin of words.

life caching: Collecting, storing and displaying one’s life online for friends, family or even the world to see. Life caching has been aided by blogs, Web sites, Web cams, and camera phones. Result: The world can now see how boring most of our lives really are.

lifestyle enabler: Often a reference to how technology has freed us to do many things while staying connected. Cell phones and Wi-Fi are considered the big "lifestyle enablers." The TV remote is still BuzzWhack's favorite.

lifetime value: A corporate measurement that projects how much money a customer will spend with the company over time before defecting and taking his or her business elsewhere.
Nominated by Curt Wieden

LIHOM: Acronym for Legend in His (or Her) Own Mind.
Nominated by Scott Haddon

limolock: Common occurrence in New York City, where visiting U.N. dignitaries tie up traffic on the East Side for hours. A similar phenomenon known as "Bubbalock" occurs every time former President Bill Clinton goes to lunch.
Nominated by Charles Mitchell

link farm: A Web site with no meaningful content of its own, just link after link to other Web sites. They're frequently created to legitimize what is otherwise a site filled with affiliate advertising banners.
Nominated by John Hiatt

linkrot: The process of Web hyperlinks going dead. As the Internet ages, sites die, page URLs change and "linkrot" sets in. One dead link is annoying. Multiple dead links indicates linkrot and lots of frustrating "Page Not Found" error messages.

lipstick effect: A consumer response to economic hard times. Instead of purchasing expensive or luxury items (such as jewelry), consumers buy smaller comfort items (lipstick) that make them feel good.
Nominated by Mark Worden

literatisement: An advertising product placement embedded in books, short stories, etc. Just like they do in TV. So beware the next time your book’s hero is driving a Lexus, the author may be on Lexus’ payroll. Ah, the plot thickens.
Nominated by Michael Donnelly

living assets: Employees. Also referred to as "live assets," "human capital," "resources" and "carbon units."
Nominated by Ken Banks and Bob Fegan

living document: A document intended to be kept current through continuous revisions and updates. Of course, after six months everyone is sick of the document and it sits ignored and unread on a server somewhere.
Nominated by Bill Wrbican

lobby lizard: Any person (salesman, groupie, etc.) who camps out in the lobby (office, hotel, etc.) in hopes of meeting (CEO, rock star, etc.).
Nominated by Dave Roberts

locked tool box: When a company has the right tools, systems, computers, etc., but lacks skilled employees that can put them to good use.
Nominated by Thom Hines

LOK: Acronym for Lack Of Knowledge. "We're having LOK problems again with the computers in customer service."
Nominated by Tom Mackey

loop mail: The ever increasing amount of e-mail CCed or copied to you to "keep you in the loop." Most of it is unnecessary, irrelevant and a major reason why you can't get your own work done.
Nominated by Anil Gangs

low-hanging fruit: In an apple orchard, it’s the apples on the low branches. In business, it’s the easy sales to get. Problem: You generally run out of low-hanging fruit long before you become profitable.
Nominated by Sue Lipinski

lunchin': Crazy or stupid. A shorter version of "out to lunch." "Did you see that guy shoveling snow in his shorts? He's lunchin'."
Nominated by Adrienne Lewis