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A buzzword (also known as a fashion word or vogue word) is an idiom, often a neologism, commonly used in managerial, technical, administrative, and sometimes political environments. Though apparently ubiquitous in these environments, the words often have unclear meanings.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Circle-question. ... An idiom is an expression (i. ... A neologism (Greek νεολογισμός [neologismos], from νέος [neos] new + λόγος [logos] word, speech, discourse + suffix -ισμός [-ismos] -ism) is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ...

Buzzwords are typically intended to impress one's audience with the pretense of knowledge. For this reason, they are often universal. They typically make sentences difficult to dispute, on account of their cloudy meaning.^[1]

Buzzwords differ from jargon in that they have the function of impressing or of obscuring meaning, while jargon (ideally) has a well-defined technical meaning, if only to specialists. However, the hype surrounding new technologies often turns technical terms into buzzwords (see Buzzword compliant).^{[citation needed]} For the glossary of hacker slang, see Jargon File. ... In the technology industry, being buzzword compliant means that a particular product supports features that are currently in vogue. ...

A buzzword may or may not appear in a dictionary, and if it does, its meaning as a buzzword may not match the conventional definition. This article contains a trivia section. ...

Reasons for using buzzwords

• A generous view allows that buzzwords have the same function as jargon in scientific disciplines: newly-minted terms to describe new concepts, without the danger of over-simplification and confusion that can arise from using words and phrases with previously established, commonplace meanings.^{[citation needed]}
• Buzzwords can also function to control thought by being intentionally vague. In management, stating organizational goals by using words with unclear meanings prevents anybody from questioning the directions and intentions of these decisions, especially if many such words are used.^{[citation needed]} (See also newspeak, Machiavelli.)
• An extremely charitable interpretation might claim that the intentionally vague phrase may boost individual thinking and creativity by deliberately raising questions.^{[citation needed]}
• Buzzwords have also been defined as a way to make something of marginal or no importance appear to have much greater meaning or to say nothing with as many words as possible. ^[2]

For the glossary of hacker slang, see Jargon File. ... It has been suggested that Management system be merged into this article or section. ... Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwells novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. ... Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527) was an Italian political philosopher, musician, poet, and romantic comedic playwright. ... Look up Creativity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Examples

Below are a few examples of common buzzwords. For a more complete list, see list of buzzwords. Below is a list of common buzzwords which form part of the business jargon of Corporate work environments. ...

• Empowerment^[3]
• Enterprise^[4]
• Framework^[3]
• Immersion^[5]
• Leverage^[6]
• Long Tail^[7]
• Next Generation^[4]
• Paradigm^[8]
• Paradigm shift^[9]
• Proactive^[10]
• Synergy^[10]
• Web 2.0^[3]

Look up Empowerment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Enterprise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Framework in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Immersion is the state where you cease to be aware of your physical self. ... Leverage is related to torque; leverage is a factor by which lever multiplies a force. ... The phrase The Long Tail (as a proper noun with capitalized letters) was first coined by Chris Anderson in a 2004 Wired Magazine article [1] to describe certain business and economic models such as Amazon. ... Star Trek: The Next Generation is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry. ... Since the late 1960s, the word paradigm (IPA: ) has referred to a thought pattern in any scientific discipline or other epistemological context. ... Paradigm shift is the term first used by Thomas Kuhn in his 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary using the Transwiki process. ... Synergy (from the Greek synergos, συνεργός meaning working together, circa 1660) refers to the phenomenon in which two or more discrete influences or agents acting together create an effect greater than that predicted by knowing only the separate effects of the individual agents. ... Web 2. ...

See also

• Buzzword bingo
• Buzzword compliant
• Dilbert — cartoon series satirizing buzzword use in management.
• Golden hammer
• Memetics
• Marketing speak
• Power word
• Psychobabble
• Weasel Word
• List of buzzwords

Buzzword bingo is a game sometimes played in relaxed team meetings. ... In the technology industry, being buzzword compliant means that a particular product supports features that are currently in vogue. ... Dilbert (first published April 16, 1989) is an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams. ... A golden hammer is any tool, technology, paradigm, snake oil, buzzword or similar whose proponents enthusiastically sing its praises. ... Memetics is an approach to evolutionary models of information transfer based on the concept of the meme. ... This article is in need of attention. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Psychobabble is a customarily pejorative term to denote technical jargon that is used outside of its intended purpose in psychology. ... A weasel word is a word intended to soften the force of a statement and/or make an assertion as though one is just conveying some others opinion. ... Below is a list of common buzzwords which form part of the business jargon of Corporate work environments. ...

External links

Look up Buzzword in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Buzzword Blends
• The Buzzword Generator Generates buzzwords and sample sentences containing such generated buzzwords
• LanguageMonitor — Watchdog on contemporary English usage
• Mission Statement Generator (on Dilbert website)
• Buzzword Hell
• BuzzWhack
• N-Gage At E3 Showcases Immersive Games And Next-Generation Mobile Gaming — an example of buzzwords in action.
• The Web Economy Bullshit Generator

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... Dilbert (first published April 16, 1989) is an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams. ...

References