27-4-2020 The Daily Heller: Mind Over Blather,* Language-Wise - Print Magazine

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The Daily Heller: Mind Over Blather,* Language-

Wise
By: Steven Heller | April 27, 2020

Every field or “space” has its professional lingo or blather (*with thanks to Russell Baker).
Sometimes it filters into the vernacular speech space and is adopted in the general public space
(like “A-OK,” “roger that” or “let’s run it up the flagpole and see who salutes”). The ad men of the
’60s were notorious for dumping the best and worst catchphrases into the lexicon of the Western
world. But the military, medical and financial sectors—and now brand strategists—have their
inbred lingo too.

I asked Brian Collins of COLLINS to list his fave-rave “woo-woo” words and phrases. He told me
that Molly Young had the best article to date about this phenomenon. In the piece, she cites Anna
Wiener’s term for it: Garbage Language.

Appropriately so.

“Her article is smart not only about the ways that we fail to communicate,” says Collins, “but also
how this language reflects the issues inherent in the kinds of cultures where clichés like these
thrive.

“Garbage Language works because garbage is what we produce mindlessly in the course of our
days, and because it smells horrible and looks ugly and we don’t think about it except when we’re
saying that it’s bad, as I am right now.”

Here’s Collins’ personal 2020 list so far. “Choose whatever triggers you.”

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27-4-2020 The Daily Heller: Mind Over Blather,* Language-Wise - Print Magazine
Loop me in.
At the end of the day.
(or by EOD.)
Hit the ground running.
Get the ball rolling.
Low-hanging fruit.
Throw under the bus.
Think outside the box.
On my radar.
Double confirm.
Consumer-centric.
Par for the course.
Bang for the buck.
Boots on the ground.
Right soldiers for the right war.
Move the goalpost.
Step up to the plate.
Open the kimono.
Apples to apples.
All hands on deck.
Dumb-down.
Ladder up.
Literally.
Net/net.
Choice cascade.
Ideate. (Too much and you go blind.)
Iterate. (Too much? Get hairy palms.)
Art of the possible.
Synergies.
Snackable.
No-brainer.
Take-aways.
Future-proof. (Like waterproof? Stupid.)
Regroup.
Touch-base.
Drill-down.
Circle back.
Parallel path.
Business-centric.
Human.
Human-centered. (Seriously?)
Secret sauce.
Game-change.
Accessible.
Aspirational.
Aspirationalize.
Impactful. (Bad ad people bang this.)
Actionable.
Chime in.
Narrative.
Unpack.
Ramp-up.
Level-se—t.
Hard stop.
Data-driven.
Plug and play.
Take it offline.
Outside the box.
Inside baseball.
Out over our skis.
Don’t have the bandwidth.
Do have the bandwidth.
Rubber meets the road.
Sharpen our pencils.
Close the loop.
Back to the drawing board.

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27-4-2020 The Daily Heller: Mind Over Blather,* Language-Wise - Print Magazine
Adjectives into nouns:

The Ask
A Win
A Fail
A Refresh
A Touchbase

Nouns into verbs:

Whiteboard
Bucket

Nonwords:

Complexify
Co-execute
Re-platform
Directionality
Shareability
Re-optimize

CATEGORIES
Daily Heller, Design Criticism, Design Thinking, Steven Heller

TAGS
Brian Collins, Daily Heller, Garbage Language, Jargon, Steven Heller

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About Steven Heller

Steven Heller is the co-chair of the SVA MFA Design / Designer as Entrepreneur program, and writes
frequently for EYE and Design Observer. He is also the author of over 190 books on design and visual
culture. He received the 1999 AIGA Medal, is in the Art Directors Hall of Fame and is the 2011 recipient
of the Smithsonian National Design Award.
View all posts by Steven Heller →

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27-4-2020 The Daily Heller: Mind Over Blather,* Language-Wise - Print Magazine

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