Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Buzzword |
BuzzwordNoun1. Stock phrases that have become nonsense through endless repetition. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Synonym: BuzzwordSynonym: cant (n). (additional references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A buzzword (also known as a fashion word) is an idiom, often a neologism, commonly used in technical, administrative and political disciplines, consisting of an over-used word or phrase. Buzzwords are ubiquitous but their actual meanings are unclear. A buzzword may or may not appear in a dictionary, but if it does, its meaning as a buzzword is not the same as the conventional definition. Buzzwords differ from jargon in that their function is to impress or to obscure meaning, while jargon (ideally) has a well-defined technical meaning, if only to specialists.
A generous view is that buzzwords have the same function as jargon in scientific disciplines: as newly minted terms to describe new concepts, without the danger of over-simplification and confusion that can arise from using words and phrases with previously established commonplace meanings.
Buzzwords can also be used to control thought by being intentionally vague. In management, stating organizational goals by using words with unclear meanings prevents anybody from questioning the directions and intentions of these decisions, especially if many such words are used. (See also newspeak, Machiavelli.)
A less cynical interpretation is that the intentionally vague word is supposed to boost individual thinking and creativity by deliberately raising questions.
Why are buzzwords used?
Examples
See also
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Buzzword."
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | As Internet Technology has become the hottest new buzzword of this new century, so we are beginning to see it branch out into a several industries, including franchising. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Buzzword" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 96.00% of the time. "Buzzword" is used about 25 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 96% | 24 | 71,196 |
| Noun (common) | 4% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 25 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "buzzword": buzzword-compliant. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "buzzword"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Modewort. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | szlogen (slogan), felkapott szakkifejezés, divatos szakkifejezés. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 流行語 (popular phrase, vogue word, wordin fashion or on everybody's lips), 流行言葉 , ガ行 (catch phrase, Classification for Japanese verb with the dictionary form ending in "gu", keel, keep, keeper, keno, key, key advisor, key chain, key club, key currency, key holder, key industry, key market, key point, key punch, key station, keyboard, keyhole, keyhole journalism, keyman, key-map, keynote, keypad, keypuncher, keystone, keystone combination, key-stroke, keysym, key-symbol, key-touch, keyword, kiwi, kiwi fruit, reference sample, the key). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | りゅう"う" (popular phrase, vogue word, wordin fashion or on everybody's lips), キーワード (catch phrase, keyword), はやり"とば (popular expression). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | uzzwordbay модное выражение. (various references) palabra pegadiza. (various references) คำหรือวลีที่นิยมมาก, คำศัพท์เฉพาะ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "buzzword": buzzwords. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "buzzword" (pronounced bu"zwerd) |
| 3 | -w er d | afterward, awkward, backward, carryforward, downward, eastward, forward, Hayward, homeward, inward, landward, leeward, leftward, northeastward, northward, onward, outward, poleward, rightward, seaward, shoreward, skyward, southward, straightforward, sunward, upward, wayward, westward, windward. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-d-o-r-u-w-z-z" | |
-4 letters: brow, burd, buzz, dour, drub, duro, word. | |
-5 letters: bod, bow, bro, bud, bur, dor, dow, dub, duo, orb, oud, our, rob, rod, row, rub, udo, urb, urd, wud. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-d-o-r-u-w-z-z" | |
+1 letter: buzzwords. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)42 75 7A 7A 77 6F 72 64 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
|
Morse Code (1836) (references)-... ..- --.. --.. .--. --- .-. -.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000010 01110101 01111010 01111010 01110111 01101111 01110010 01100100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)B u z z w o r d |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0042 0075 007A 007A 0077 006F 0072 0064 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
|
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)3687929289818470 |
| Language | Coverage | Language Translations |
German | Übersetzung, Wörterbuch, Definition | német, ジプシー音楽 , ジャーマン , немецкий, alemán, าษาเยอรมัน, เยอรมัน |
Hungarian | szótár, meghatározás, definíció, fordítás | Ungar, magyar, венгр, венгерский, húngaro, ชาวฮังการี |
Japanese Kanji | 辭典 , 辞典 , 字引 , 辞林 , 字書 , ディーゼル電気車 , 言海 , 辞彙 , 辞書 , 確定 , ディーゼル電気車 , デ'ドロ酢酸 , 翻訳 | japaner, japanisch, japán, 邦語 , 邦人 , ジャスミン茶 , ほう", ジャパニーズ , ほうじ", японский, японец, japonés, คนญี่ปุ่น, าษาญี่ปุ่น, เกี่ยวกับญี่ปุ่น |
Japanese Katakana | じい, じびき, じて", ディクショナリー , じり", じしょ, '"かい, ディクショナリ , デフィニション , ディフィニション , ていぎ, かくてい, へい"ういどう, やくじゅつ, トランスレーション , やくしょ, やくしゅつ, "うどく, ほ"やく, ほ"やくしょ | japaner, japanisch, japán, 邦語 , 邦人 , ジャスミン茶 , ほう", ジャパニーズ , ほうじ", японский, японец, japonés, คนญี่ปุ่น, าษาญี่ปุ่น, เกี่ยวกับญี่ปุ่น |
Russian | словарь, определение, трансляция, сдвиг, перевод, перемещение | Russe, russisch, orosz, ロシア語 , ロシア", русский, ruso, ชาวรัสเซีย |
Spanish | diccionario, definición, traducción | spanisch, spanyol, スペイン語 , スパイ罪 , スペイン", スパニッシュ , испанский, español |
Thai | พจนานุกรม | thailändisch, Thailänder, たい", tailandés, าษาไทย, เกี่ยวกับคนไทย, ที่เกี่ยวกับประเทศไทย, คนไทย |
English | Dictionary, Definition, Translation | englisch, angol, английский, inglés, เกี่ยวกับประเทศอังกฤษ, ชาวอังกฤษ, าษาอังกฤษ |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Quotations: Non-fiction | 5. Usage Frequency 6. Expressions 7. Translations: Modern 8. Derivations | 9. Rhymes 10. Anagrams 11. Orthography 12. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
