8 Words and Phrases to Never, Ever Use at Work

8 Words and Phrases to Never, Ever Use at Work8 Words and Phrases to Never, Ever Use at Work Every industry has its jargon. But some words and stichworts can be unclear , unnecessary or even offensive. Maybe some of these are phrases you like building into your business vocab, but use them with caution. If youre going to offend or annoy someone, or if theres a clearer way to say something, why notlage go the easy way and avoid them altogether?Our little caveat every office has different protocol. If youre buddies with your coworkers, its not so strange to talk to them about personal issues. And if youre in the thick of the consulting, tech or business world, you might feel inclined to use the lingo and play along. But the joy of language is that theres always another way to phrase something.Weve all heard it When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. Cute. But even if the catchphrase earns your eye-roll, its a good point dont accept something to be the case without proof. For exampleI assume you finished the report? I assumed Bob would run that part of the presentation . I assume youll be working on Saturday?From a boss, assume is a passive-aggressive way to show authority. From an underling, it looks like ducking responsibility. In both cases, there are ways to make your point without making an ass out of you and me.I like these doughnuts is fair game. But avoid using like, um, sort of, basically, and other weasel words that fill dead air. They make you sound less confident and can even sort of give the impression that you basically dont know what youre, like, talking about.Or, I finally got that $10K raise, or even Ive never eaten there because its too expensive. Good rule of thumb avoid stating the amount of money you make or the pile of dough you spent on your trip to Iceland. If someone makes a lot mora or a lot less than you, it could lead to awkwardness.Not everyone who works is a man, and even seemingly innocent phrases li ke Hey, man or Whats up, dude, when used between people who identify as men, can create an environment of exclusion. Nicknames in general can help build a bond of casual camaraderie - but when that bond is based on being the same sex, that means anyone who doesnt fall under the category of man or dude is excluded from the camaraderie.Most people who use these phrases arent being exclusive on purpose. But by calling out a connection based on something that other people in the office dont share, these dudes might be making it harder for women to build the connections that will get them ahead.Talk about it? Discuss it? Have a meaningful and productive dialogue about the issue and its repercussions?Heres why Grammarly doesnt like this phrase talk is not traditionally a transitive verb because it doesnt take a direct object. You can talk about something, but thats an intransitive verb with a prepositional phrase a very different category.While phrases like we can talk it out or lets talk things through have shown the potential for talk to take on transitive qualities, lets talk that is a step too far.If youre pointing out someone elses mistake , you seem blaming and harsh if youre talking about your own, you risk undermining your coworkers sense of your abilities.Heres how to turn it around if you messed up, find a task too tough or arent sure how to address a problem, dont start in with I cant, its hard, or I failed. Find someone to ask for help and tell them what the problem is, what youve tried so far and what you need to know or do to fix it.On the flip side, some companies love talking about failures as opportunities for learning and growth. If you work in an environment brimming with that kind of positivity, kudos. But no matter whether your company embraces the word failure or avoids it like the plague, same idea goes focus on next steps and ways to learn moving forward, not on whos to blame.In business, throw it over the wall can be translated as send it to the client. This is one of the cases where jargon gets in the way of clarity - and that can, in turn, lead to things not getting done. If you want to be understood, this is a phrase you can throw over the wall - as in, get rid of it.If your goal in the office is to think outside the box , why not do the same with your well-worn clichs? Theres nothing really wrong with this phrase, but its been used so many times that we dare you to find new ways to express the idea. You can keep it simple, like innovate, find unusual solutions, or even come up with creative ideas, or you can invent something totally new like think one galaxy over. (Though if youre going for clarity, you might want to stick to brainstorm.)Either way, if youre trying to find creative solutions at work, you might as well think outside the box in how you use language, too.A version of this article originally appeared on Grammarly . It is reprinted with permission.