"Jargon" refers to language that only means something to a specific group of people, such as a workplace. When it has something to do with that work, it functions perfectly well and rarely escapes into family or social life. Still, some phrases that turn out to be particularly useful get adopted into the greater world. Then there's corporate jargon, which has evolved into a whole dictionary of phrases that mean pretty much nothing, but it does pad the conversation out. We are inundated with corporate jargon that is designed to be vague and noncommittal, often as a way to give plausible deniability or else cover the fact that your supervisor just doesn't know what he's talking about. Master a good amount of corporate jargon, and you can talk for hours and still not say anything useful.
Linguist Dr. Erica Brozovsky (previously at Neatorama) explains how this language evolved from regular workplace talk, and why it is so frustrating whether you understand it or not. -via Geeks are Sexy
