Whose Faulty Vision

Corporatese

Okay, I’m a big fan of the way the English language mutates and evolves. I really am. I even like some of the “corporate” mutations of it–I’ve been known to defend such uses as “impact” as a verb (goes back centuries, even though the haters claim it’s a neologism) and “grow” as a transitive verb (if you’re not offended by “growing tomatoes”, why do you hate “growing your business” so much?). But I’ve recently moved onto a very, very corporate account, and I just have a couple of things to say:

You’re not going to “action” a research finding. You’re going to “act on” it, or possibly “use” it. Those both have the advantages of a) being shorter, and b) not making you sound like a total prat.

And for the love of all that’s holy, never say “we’re dialoguing about” something again. The word is “talking.” Perfectly sensible word.

I just had to get that off my chest.