I've posted this out here in Bedlam rather than in the sub forum to avoid upsetting the "blue sky thinkers".

'Thinking outside the box' is most despised business jargon

"Thinking outside the box" has been voted Britain's most despised business jargon by researchers in a new poll.

Nearly half of the Britons (49 per cent) surveyed by YouGov believe that the use of such terms is on the increase as employees seek to impress their bosses.

Although most of the phrases do not say anything important or useful, 20 per cent of people still believe that "buffling" - as the pollsters call it - has had or would have a positive impact on their career.

Business-speak also appears to be spreading outside the confines of the office.

Nearly half (46 per cent) of working respondents admitted that they buffle in their own home and among their friends.

The biggest bufflers are those who live in the East Midlands, with one in six (15 per cent), saying they buffle on a regular basis.

By contrast, people in Liverpool and people in the Northwest are the least tolerant of buffling, with seven out of ten stating they find it "very irritating".

"It's bad enough when people at work talk about 'blue-sky thinking' and 'singing from the same hymn sheet', but now we're starting to use these clichéd phrases at home," said Zory Radnay-Florian, a spokesman for Ramada Encore hotels, which commissioned the survey of 2,035 adults.

"Buffling outside of the office could be due in part to the explosion in business reality TV shows, such as Dragons Den, The Apprentice and more recently, Natural Born Sellers, where buffling is commonplace and often positively encouraged among those fighting it out for fame and the best job."

The top 20 "buffling" business terms:

1 Thinking outside of the box

2 Touch base

3 At the end of the day

4 Going forward

5 All of it

6 Blue sky thinking

7 Out of the box

8 Credit crunch

9 Heads up

10 Singing from the same hymn sheet

11 Pro-active

12 Downsizing

13 Ducks in a row

14 Brainstorming

15 Thought shower

16 360º thinking

17 Flag it up

18 Pushing the envelope

19 At this moment in time

20 In the loop

So "at this moment in tme" we have to "get our ducks in a row" before "hitting the ground running" "on a level playing field" thus "empowering the workers" to be "going forward" "pushing the envelope" and "not moving the goalposts" so we can "flag it up" as a "win-win situation". Then "at the end of the day"we can all come "out of the box" with our "heads up" "singing from the same hymnsheet" and "touch base" while remaining "in the loop".

I guess we could have a ThaiVisa equivalent:

1. If you don't like it go home.

2. Never invest more than you can afford to walk away from.

3. Thailand is a safe low crime place to live.

4. Help is the <insert currency> in free fall?

ps do "blue sky thinkers" dream in colour?

Sure I do ! I always dream in "transparent nonsense"

I read somewhere just recently here at Thai Visa that Thailand's economic slowdown is accelerating.

I read somewhere just recently here at Thai Visa that Thailand's economic slowdown is accelerating.

obviously signs of the advancing recession.

In that case you can count me out - or include me in?

I read somewhere just recently here at Thai Visa that Thailand's economic slowdown is accelerating.

obviously signs of the advancing recession.

Hmmmmmmmmm, how can sumfin slowing down accelerating?

......possibly decelerating, huh?

Or, 'de-accelerating' as I have heard people say! You'll have to 'de-promote' me for that one!

Bovine scatology speak.

I swear this is true.

I was watching a CNN report on the recent aircrash at Madrid and they were talking about casualty estimates and a figure they had got from the Reuters website.

They stressed "we do however stress that these figures are unsubstantiated and we realise that in a situation like this it is as important we don't over exagerate as much as under exagerate".

So just exagerating is okay as long as you don't over do it.

How the hel_l do you under exagerate?

I think the problem these days is that people don't think they are contributing unless their mouths are opening and closing and sounds, however meaningless, are coming out. Never mind the quality feel the width.

How the hel_l do you under exagerate?

My Mrs under exagerates the size of my wedding tackle all the time.

She says it's 12 inches, if i exagerate, i say it's 15 inches. When in reality, it's a mighty 3

I always find this extremely useful if I ever need to throw in some worthless bullshit when I'm on the phone to tedious corporate mongs back in the UK...

How the hel_l do you under exagerate?

My Mrs under exagerates the size of my wedding tackle all the time.

She says it's 12 inches, if i exagerate, i say it's 15 inches. When in reality, it's a mighty 3

maybe someone's misunderestimating?

Oh it's great to come down here from the battle zone, kick off my boots, throw the flak jacket over the chair and consider the important things in life. I hear the mods have asked admin if they can be supplied with APC's for their work upstairs. Personally I think, judgng by some of the posts, full NBC suits might be in order.

I always find this extremely useful if I ever need to throw in some worthless bullshit when I'm on the phone to tedious corporate mongs back in the UK...

I hit the generate bullshit button and it came back with this pearler.

unleash back-end methodologies

unleash back-end methodologies

That's what you get when PC takes over Russel Crowe