Quiz: How Well Do You Know Workplace Jargon?
As forecasters try to make sense of microtrends by affixing nouns with “-core” to create new terms and office dynamics continue to evolve to accommodate a hybrid work model—with a majority of meetings still taking place over Zoom (can you share screen?)—the invention of new terminology to discuss our work is constant. The result: jargon that can be opaque to those outside the agency world.
Gone are the Mad Men-days of pitching clients with pithy lines like, “What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons.” Filtered through today’s vernacular, that might translate to something like, “What you call authenticity was workshopped by a core team of decision makers like me to reinvent nylon tights for Gen Z.”
But what does it mean when workplace jargon seeps out into the wider working world? Will our non-agency peers understand what we mean by “tracking towards an end of week all-hands”? Fortunately, we have the tools to help. Whether you circle back, ladder up or simply align, get ready to test and learn how your jargon knowledge stacks up in our first-ever quiz. It’s short, sweet and almost entirely subjective, so let’s dive in.
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aAlign with
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bAlign to
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cBoth can be correct
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dBoth are wrong
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aSending flares
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bFire drill
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cBuilding a plane while flying
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dSeeing what sticks
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aCan I be looped in?
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bI’m not sure I’m tracking.
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cI’m asyncing.
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dI’m not omni on this one.
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aKick tires
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bSharpen our pencils around
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cChop the windowframe
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dLand the plane
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aOmni
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bTurn Key
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cDrilled down
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dLaddered up
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aPiggybacking
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bGetting ducks in a row
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cFeeding at the trough
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dPecking order
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aCircle back
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bClose the loop
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cCover off
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dLevel set
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aA graveyard shift
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bA bandwidth issue
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cA hard stop
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dA tentpole moment
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a“Rippling off of that…”
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b“That has legs.”
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c“I’d like to echo that.”
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d“Cadencing with that.”
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aA working ideas session among an agency and client team
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bA Swedish back massage
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cA sad Zoom conference 😢
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dA fake meeting block on your Google calendar
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aLet’s hit reset.
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bLet’s graveyard this one.
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cLet’s yank the rug on that
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dLet’s noodle this away.
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aPing a reco
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bPatch a solve
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cCircle back
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dFind sync