Jargon sounds like blah-blahInc.com’s contributing editor, Geoffrey James, doesn’t sugarcoat it. In a piece called How Corporate-Speak Rots Your Brain and How To Stop It, he says jargon “makes you and everyone around you progressively less intelligent.”

What’s more, rather than making you sound more intelligent, using words like “utilize” makes readers think less of you.

The January issue of my Wordnerdery newsletter tackles the topic of jargon. In it, I suggest alternatives to 14 examples of corporate-speak that I hate the most, including “utilize” and “impact.”

Read all 14 suggestions, and do come back if you’d like to share your own most despised examples of jargon.

Wordnerdery is a quick read about words, effective/expressive writing, newsletters and more. Are you a subscriber yet? If yes, thanks for reading! If not, sign up now and don’t miss an issue. In keeping with Canada’s anti-spam laws, you can easily unsubscribe any time.

Image: Blah blah by “pakorn” and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.