I was on the phone with a client today that wanted to call his solution “Network Infrastructure Management.” I talked him out of it. Too many overused words.

Mike

Perhaps, I should have better qualified my post. This follow-up may seem like it’s splitting hairs, still, I promise, this is going somewhere good

I never said any of these words should be blacklisted. What I did say is “avoided if possible if for no other reason than.”

There is a difference. Blacklist means “don’t use at all - ever.”

“Avoid if possible if for no other reason than” doesn’t mean discontinue the use of such words 100%. “If for no other reason” implies there are other reasons too as mentioned below [to avoid using them if possible].

The complete phrase does mean “choose better alternatives whenever feasible.”

If any alternative for these words comes across awkwardly, then stick with your original choice.

OTOH, if a viable, less heavily used word or phrase avails itself at no degradation to your intended meaning, my thinking is, “go with it.”

Why?

The reason I’m about to give may not apply 100% of the time so, this is not meant to be taken as dogma, just food for thought…

The more over-used words we read, the more we zone out and other life issues rush in to fill the void like, “What’s for dinner, tonight?” or “Can’t wait for that hot date” or “Did I leave the coffee machine on?”

Personally, I like the word leverage Eric. I use it all the time. I think is gets a point across well. For example, “Leverages existing knowledge to …”

I also have to agree with Jonathan that enterprise does mean something specific in the tech. space.

I also think, as Charles has noted, that the word solution makes sense only in context of a problem. For example:

Problem: I am easily distracted.
Solution: Stop surfing the web!

For example, the term “enterprise business” is the term that is used to refer to large business. You could use the term “large business”, but you will not be connecting with a CIO as significantly as you would with the term enterprise. Enterprise means something very specific to them.

Just because a term may be used frequently doesn’t mean that it’s no longer applicable. The business sector isn’t like like Hollywood, where terms are changed frequently just for the sake of being “cool”.

I too have been an abuser of that word, but I have noticed recently how it gets bandied about as an empty buzzword. When the word “solutions” is used, it means absolutely nothing unless a specific problem (the one being solved) is also mentioned.

Michael, I just wonder sometimes if we are tuned into the same wavelength. I wrote a post about the use of “solutions” as a buzzword last week in “Solutions” is Not Just a Buzzword. (Perhaps this will help you forgive me for mispelling your name on my blogroll).

I try to remind myself that a specific solution to a specific problem is also known as a benefit. And benefits, properly described, are the tools of our trade.

Charles Brown

For me, there are a number of words I consider “too corporate” and therefore worth avoiding if for no other reason than they de-personalize the bond we’re trying to make with the reader:

* enterprise (as an adjective - does it implicitly leave out large public sector and non-profit organizations?)

* leverage (as a verb and not in the context finance)

* scale (as a verb and not in the context of mountain-climbing)

* integrated (great catch-all which conceals more than it reveals if not referring to integrated circuits or integrated schools)

Griffin - I like the fact that your blog is Christ-centered. I am also a believer. What we can learn from Christ is pretty amazing. Even writers can learn much. The Gospel language is so deep and so well written.

Here is an example:

John 3:5-8 (NIV)

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Some of my readers may not hold this as truth, however, much can be learned from the writing style used in Scripture.

Mike