In the fast moving, exciting, hectic office environment, clichéd office jargon doesn’t hang around for long and fester (actually, it spreads like wild fire or a virus and then hangs around for years). Last year, literally, everyone was saying the word ‘literally’ in every sentence. That was so last year. This year, everyone is saying ‘in terms of’. Every. Single. Sentence. Literally. It can be ‘in terms of’ anything at all (in terms of... design / sales / Tuesday / opportunity / lunch / information / time*), literally, and it literally means absolutely nothing. And started off quite amusing (I wondered if it was a running conspiratorial joke), then got very annoying. People in the office have no idea whatsoever why they’ve suddenly started saying it. It’s just happened. And then spread. At first there was one person, a sales guy, who started saying it. The following week, another person joined him. Then another. And another. And another. In terms of ‘in terms of’, everyone’s at it. Literally.

*Actual ‘in terms of’ heard today

Previously on Barnflakes
Four-day working week
I’m literally not being funny but let me ask you a question
Email etiquetté
The offensive office