As English English slides into Americanese at an alarming rate, good news. In a report in the Business Today journal there is a small article entitled Communicating: Business bugged by buzzwords. Here are a couple of snippets: 60% of company directors feel annoyed or irritated when people use jargon or buzzwords in business conversation ... buzzwords annoy female directors more than male directors (65% and 57% respectively). The worst offender was 'let's touch base' ... followed by 'no brainer' ... 'synergy' ... 'outside the box' ... 'let's take this offline' ... 'playing hardball'. The author of the original report says that While buzzwords can create an illusion of understanding for those who use them, they often signal just the opposite to others on the receiving end ... Thankfully, good communicators are not born but made, which is good news for those that usually opt for meaningless phrases to paper over the cracks in their knowledge. DW