All 120+ terms decoded. Search by keyword, filter by category, and finally understand what your colleagues are actually saying.
What it really means:
Contains an if/else statement written by an intern.
"Our AI-powered solution will transform your workflow."
What it really means:
No plan, just vibes. We'll figure it out as we go.
"We've adopted an agile methodology for product development."
What it really means:
Data that tells you things you already knew but in chart form.
"Our analytics provide actionable insights for decision makers."
What it really means:
Agree with me or keep quiet.
"Let's make sure everyone is aligned on the strategy."
What it really means:
Time and energy. You probably don't have enough of either.
"I don't have the bandwidth to take on another project right now."
What it really means:
What everyone else does, so we can blame them if it fails.
"According to industry best practices, we should..."
What it really means:
Unstable technology that will probably break in production.
"We're using bleeding edge AI technology in our product."
What it really means:
Try to do everything at once and fail spectacularly.
"We don't want to boil the ocean here — let's stay focused."
What it really means:
A wild guess I'll later be held accountable for.
"Can you give me a ballpark figure on the timeline?"
What it really means:
Exactly like our competitors but we won't admit it.
"We're building a best-in-class customer experience."
What it really means:
Working with terrible old code no one understands.
"It's a brownfield environment with 10 years of technical debt."
What it really means:
Excuses for why you're behind schedule.
"What are the main blockers preventing us from launching?"
What it really means:
We're drowning but too proud to hire anyone.
"We can't take on that project right now — we're bandwidth constrained."
What it really means:
How fast we're spending money we don't have.
"We need to watch our burn rate if we want to make it to Series B."
What it really means:
Copy-paste from last time and hope nobody notices.
"Just use the boilerplate from our last proposal."
What it really means:
I'm going to forget about this until you remind me again.
"Let me circle back on that after I've had time to review."
What it really means:
We want someone who won't challenge the status quo.
"Great skills, but I'm not sure they're a culture fit."
What it really means:
The one thing we're supposed to be good at but aren't.
"Customer service is one of our core competencies."
What it really means:
Market rate minus 15%, but we have a ping pong table.
"We offer competitive salary and great benefits."
What it really means:
Do extra work for no extra pay.
"We need a champion for our sustainability initiative."
What it really means:
Pass down decisions you had no say in.
"I'll cascade this information to my team."
What it really means:
Defensive meeting to blame someone else.
"We need to circle the wagons before the client call."
What it really means:
How often we'll have meetings you don't need.
"Let's establish a weekly cadence for status updates."
What it really means:
Nobody knows who's actually responsible.
"This will be a cross-functional initiative involving all departments."
What it really means:
A group that gossips professionally.
"Let's keep this within the circle of trust until the announcement."
What it really means:
Copy an existing business model but add an app.
"Our mission is to disrupt the traditional insurance industry."
What it really means:
A meeting that could've been an email, but longer.
"Let's schedule a deep dive into the Q3 performance metrics."
What it really means:
The thing you should have finished yesterday.
"What are the key deliverables for this sprint?"
What it really means:
Keep asking questions until someone admits they don't know.
"Let's drill down into the Q3 numbers and see what happened."
What it really means:
PowerPoint presentation you'll spend all night making.
"Can you put together a deck for tomorrow's board meeting?"
What it really means:
Using our own broken product so we feel the pain too.
"We're dogfooding the new app before the public launch."
What it really means:
Overwhelming information dump disguised as onboarding.
"First week here is like drinking from the firehose."
What it really means:
Cutting out the middleman so we can be the middleman.
"Our platform enables disintermediation of traditional brokers."
What it really means:
We cut the budget but not the expectations.
"This year we need to do more with less across all departments."
What it really means:
Let's talk about this longer than anyone wants to.
"Can we double-click on the customer churn numbers?"
What it really means:
A bunch of random products we're trying to make sound connected.
"Our platform integrates seamlessly with the entire ecosystem."
What it really means:
End of day. Actually means midnight or whenever I check my email.
"I need this report EOD."
What it really means:
Give you responsibility without authority or resources.
"We want to empower our team members to make decisions."
What it really means:
Chaotic, understaffed, and you'll never catch up.
"Ideal candidates thrive in a fast-paced environment."
What it really means:
It probably won't be obsolete by next quarter.
"Our architecture is designed to be future-proof."
What it really means:
Know everything about everything for one person's salary.
"We're hiring a full-stack developer who can handle frontend, backend, DevOps, and design."
What it really means:
Marketing but we can't afford a marketing team.
"Our growth hacking strategy drove 300% user acquisition."
What it really means:
Minor improvement we're desperate to hype.
"This new feature is a complete game changer."
What it really means:
Detailed. Just say detailed.
"I need a more granular breakdown of the budget."
What it really means:
A launch plan we'll probably change next week.
"What's our go-to-market strategy for this product?"
What it really means:
Starting from scratch because we ignored the old system.
"This is a greenfield project with no legacy constraints."
What it really means:
Rules we'll ignore when it's convenient.
"We need to put guardrails around this process."
What it really means:
We have no specific plan but want to sound thoughtful.
"We're taking a holistic approach to customer experience."
What it really means:
I have another meeting I actually care about.
"I have a hard stop at 3pm, so let's move quickly."
What it really means:
A vague overview from someone who doesn't understand the details.
"Let's take a helicopter view of the market landscape."
What it really means:
Expensive handholding for clients who pay more.
"Enterprise customers get our high touch support experience."
What it really means:
Easy tasks that make us look productive without actual effort.
"We should focus on the low-hanging fruit first to show quick wins."
What it really means:
Underfunded and understaffed. Also: no snacks in the break room.
"We're running a lean operation to maximize efficiency."
What it really means:
Use. Just say use.
"We should leverage our existing customer base for upsells."
What it really means:
Mistakes we're pretending were educational.
"What are our key learnings from this failed launch?"
What it really means:
CC someone on emails they don't need to read.
"Let me loop in the legal team on this conversation."
What it really means:
Cheap and automated. No humans will help you.
"Our low touch model reduces customer support costs."
What it really means:
Make a noticeable impact. Usually said about things that won't.
"Will this initiative really move the needle on our KPIs?"
What it really means:
Important enough that you'll be blamed if it fails.
"This is a mission critical project for Q4."
What it really means:
Change requirements after you've already done the work.
"They keep moving the goalpost on this project."
What it really means:
Impossible goal to distract from quarterly failures.
"Our moonshot is to 10x revenue in 18 months."
What it really means:
An underpaid expert willing to do impossible things invisibly.
"We're hiring a marketing ninja to lead our campaigns."
What it really means:
The bottom line, for people who say 'net' wasn't enough.
"Net-net, we need to cut costs by 20%."
What it really means:
The one number we'll obsess over and game.
"User engagement is our north star metric."
What it really means:
How it looks matters more than how it actually is.
"The optics on this aren't great for the company."
What it really means:
You can complain, but nothing will change.
"I have an open door policy — feel free to share any concerns."
What it really means:
Make it cheaper, usually by removing things people liked.
"We need to optimize our operational costs."
What it really means:
Area where we could possibly maybe make money somehow.
"There's a huge opportunity space in the mid-market segment."
What it really means:
I've noticed it but will do nothing about it.
"Yes, that issue is definitely on my radar."
What it really means:
Matches our vague identity that changes quarterly.
"Is this messaging really on brand for us?"
What it really means:
Abandon what's not working and pretend the new direction was always the plan.
"After Q2 results, we've decided to pivot our strategy."
What it really means:
Do work before being asked so you can be blamed earlier.
"We're looking for proactive team members who take initiative."
What it really means:
Topics we're going to ignore forever.
"Good point, let's put that in the parking lot for now."
What it really means:
Send me a message I'll probably ignore.
"Ping me when you have those numbers ready."
What it really means:
Do something risky so management can take credit if it works.
"We need to push the envelope with our product design."
What it really means:
Make a difficult decision no one wants to make.
"Someone has to punch the puppy and cut the budget."
What it really means:
Keep asking questions until someone cries.
"We need to peel the onion on these cost overruns."
What it really means:
Imaginary future customers that salespeople talk about to avoid getting fired.
"Our pipeline is looking strong heading into Q4."
What it really means:
A problem we'll happily make worse before we solve it.
"We've identified the key pain points in the customer journey."
What it really means:
Something changed, but we want to sound like visionaries about it.
"AI represents a paradigm shift in how we approach customer service."
What it really means:
An employee willing to work 60+ hours for the salary of 40.
"We're looking for a rockstar developer to join our team."
What it really means:
Get approval from people who don't understand the project.
"Let's run it up the flagpole and see what leadership thinks."
What it really means:
Layoffs. We're firing people but making it sound strategic.
"As part of our rightsizing initiative, we're restructuring teams."
What it really means:
A number we'll make up to justify what we already decided to do.
"What's the projected ROI on this initiative?"
What it really means:
It works. For now. In the demo environment.
"We've built a robust solution that handles enterprise-scale workloads."
What it really means:
Musical chairs, but with desks and severance packages.
"The company is undergoing a strategic restructuring."
What it really means:
The countdown clock before we run out of money.
"We have about 8 months of runway left at current spend."
What it really means:
Doing more work with fewer people and calling it teamwork.
"Let's leverage our cross-functional synergies to deliver this project."
What it really means:
We haven't figured out how to make money yet, but it could theoretically be big.
"We're building a scalable platform for the enterprise market."
What it really means:
Remove features/employees that someone in management doesn't understand.
"We need to streamline our processes for better efficiency."
What it really means:
Anyone who can say no to your project for any reason.
"We need to align all stakeholders before moving forward."
What it really means:
No training, no onboarding. Figure it out yourself.
"We need a self-starter who can hit the ground running."
What it really means:
Two weeks of work crammed into one because someone set unrealistic deadlines.
"We need to ship this feature by end of sprint."
What it really means:
Kill it. We're killing this product.
"We've decided to sunset the legacy platform."
What it really means:
Stay in your area and don't help anyone else.
"Let's define clear swim lanes for each department."
What it really means:
It barely works but we hope you won't notice the seams.
"We provide a seamless omnichannel experience."
What it really means:
The thing we won't explain because it's not actually special.
"Our secret sauce is our proprietary algorithm."
What it really means:
Making up verbs because existing ones aren't corporate enough.
"We're currently in the solutioning phase of this engagement."
What it really means:
Departments that don't talk to each other and blame each other for failures.
"We need to break down the silos between engineering and marketing."
What it really means:
The verb form of synergy, for when the noun wasn't corporate enough.
"Let's synergize our efforts across the global teams."
What it really means:
Someone who writes LinkedIn posts and calls themselves an expert.
"We need to position our CEO as a thought leader in the space."
What it really means:
Have an unnecessary check-in meeting to feel productive.
"Let's touch base next week to see where we're at."
What it really means:
Stop disagreeing with me in front of everyone.
"Good point, let's take this offline and discuss later."
What it really means:
Come up with ideas I haven't thought of so I can reject them.
"We need to think outside the box for this campaign."
What it really means:
We'll tell you what we want you to know.
"We believe in radical transparency with our team."
What it really means:
This will be your fault when it goes wrong.
"We need someone to really take ownership of this project."
What it really means:
Cancel this idea but pretend it might happen later.
"Let's table this discussion until next quarter."
What it really means:
I need you to do my thinking for me.
"I'd love your thought partnership on this strategy deck."
What it really means:
Explain the obvious in excruciating detail.
"Let's unpack what happened in that customer meeting."
What it really means:
A mythical employee who doesn't exist at your budget.
"We need a unicorn: designer, developer, marketer, and data scientist."
What it really means:
Learn new things on your own time because we won't pay for training.
"We're encouraging all team members to upskill in AI and data analytics."
What it really means:
Justify your existence by doing something extra that nobody asked for.
"What's our value-add compared to competitors?"
What it really means:
The reason someone should care, explained in the most boring way possible.
"We need to sharpen our value proposition for the enterprise segment."
What it really means:
Do the job of three people for the pay of one.
"In our startup, everyone wears many hats."
What it really means:
You'll have time for life when the project is done.
"We pride ourselves on promoting work-life balance."
What it really means:
The things you're supposed to be good at.
"Data analysis is right in your wheelhouse."
What it really means:
A compromise where everyone loses a little.
"We need to find a win-win solution for both teams."
What it really means:
A fancy word for project or task.
"I'm managing three workstreams simultaneously."
Paste any job description and get instant BS translation.