Jargon

a graph or slide featuring a thoughtless jumble of dense text or objects, poor layout, hard-to-read color schemes, etc., such that comprehending the information and grasping the intended message is difficult; used to draw attention to these flaws without being…

the ability to endure or sustain performance for meaningful periods of time, or to accomplish a desired objective; the term itself is neutral and can be used to describe something positive (“That old promotional campaign really has legs, it’s been…

an informal figure, usually relating to a valuation or price of some kind, which is not officially shared in order to preserve negotiating flexibility and leverage; it is nonetheless floated quietly among select parties in order to test the waters…

a description applied to something that is uninspiring, ineffective, underwhelming, or otherwise below reasonable expectations and/or not as good as comparable items, as in “I thought the keynote presentation would be a hit but those new products they introduced were…

a meandering path that has only a tangential connection to the issue at hand; if pursued it will derail a group from its core task or objective, and so the term is usually invoked as a gentle reminder to stay…

a phrase describing a phenomenon where changes to one element are likely to have rippling or unpredictable effects on others, usually in the context of an analytical model with nested or interlocking parts, as in “We could change the market…

to be thrust suddenly into a position of greater responsibility due to some corporate machination, scandal, resignation, or the like that unexpectedly removes an incumbent from his or her position, leaving the one promoted to quickly fill the void; such…

a very rarely-used term that means to be skewed, slightly inaccurate, or in need of some minor adjustment, as in “I think the presentation of those user statistics should be torqued towards our top customers, we want the conclusions to…

to check status or seek rapid feedback from another party, generally for a discrete and often time-sensitive reason; adopted from the computer networking term in which one machine sends a signal to another to verify operating status, generating a standardized…

a condition that requires work in a particular area to cease completely, due to a deadline, external circumstance, an injunction from a superior, etc.; derives from the era of standardized tests administered on paper, during which students were strictly required…