Perspectives Header Workplace Jargon 6 15

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.

1
Do you “align with” a creative direction or “align to” a creative direction?
  1. a
    Align with
  2. b
    Align to
  3. c
    Both can be correct
  4. d
    Both are wrong
2
It’s crunch time! Which phrase best describes that feeling?
  1. a
    Sending flares
  2. b
    Fire drill
  3. c
    Building a plane while flying
  4. d
    Seeing what sticks
3
How do you say, “I don’t understand”?
  1. a
    Can I be looped in?
  2. b
    I’m not sure I’m tracking.
  3. c
    I’m asyncing.
  4. d
    I’m not omni on this one.
4
Which of the following phrases denote making a decision? “Time to ___.”
  1. a
    Kick tires
  2. b
    Sharpen our pencils around
  3. c
    Chop the windowframe
  4. d
    Land the plane
5
The client wants a process that’s more efficient. How *might* we communicate that to the team? “The client wants this to be more ___.”
  1. a
    Omni
  2. b
    Turn Key
  3. c
    Drilled down
  4. d
    Laddered up
6
Which of these animal-related terms or phrases is not in the workplace jargon lexicon?
  1. a
    Piggybacking
  2. b
    Getting ducks in a row
  3. c
    Feeding at the trough
  4. d
    Pecking order
7
Enough with the soft sounding! It’s time to land a direction. Are you ready to ___:
  1. a
    Circle back
  2. b
    Close the loop
  3. c
    Cover off
  4. d
    Level set
8
Oh no! You urgently have to leave a Zoom call because another one’s on the books. Do you have a _______:
  1. a
    A graveyard shift
  2. b
    A bandwidth issue
  3. c
    A hard stop
  4. d
    A tentpole moment
9
Great point, Trey! What message could I drop in the Google Meet chat to agree with his call out?
  1. a
    “Rippling off of that…”
  2. b
    “That has legs.”
  3. c
    “I’d like to echo that.”
  4. d
    “Cadencing with that.”
10
What is a “tissue session”?
  1. a
    A working ideas session among an agency and client team
  2. b
    A Swedish back massage
  3. c
    A sad Zoom conference 😢
  4. d
    A fake meeting block on your Google calendar
11
Help! There’s a bad idea in the mix. How do you gracefully remove it?
  1. a
    Let’s hit reset.
  2. b
    Let’s graveyard this one.
  3. c
    Let’s yank the rug on that
  4. d
    Let’s noodle this away.
12
What phrase would you use to imply that you’ll be regrouping, as opposed to following up?
  1. a
    Ping a reco
  2. b
    Patch a solve
  3. c
    Circle back
  4. d
    Find sync
Your Score:
  • You weren’t tracking.
  • Let’s sidebar.
  • Might need to take this offline.
  • Next time, what other levers could you pull?
  • Still looking for a solve it seems…
  • Can we see an R2?
  • Could’ve used a gut check.
  • Drill down a bit more next time.
  • Starting to connect the dots…
  • Net-net, not bad.
  • So close to full alignment.
  • Love where your head’s at.
  • All head nods.