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What's the Buzzword? Tell Me What's Happening!

In my younger days, the word "buzz" referred either to that irritating sound that winged insects used to make in your ears or, in ordinary conversation, to the latest gossip or scoop pertaining to a particular subject, most often, show business.

In more recent times, however, the word "buzz", while retaining a lot of its old meanings, has evolved into a more hip term among the younger generation the meaning of which is not really so clear but is so widely used that it can actually bombard your olfactory senses and drive you to tears if not totally up the wall. The modern and evolved term is "buzzword".

What then is a buzzword?

Dictionary.com defines buzzword as "a word or phrase, often sounding authoritative or technical, which is a vogue term in a particular profession, field of study, popular culture and so on."

In other words, a buzzword is a fashion term that is commonly used to impress an audience and create the sense that the speaker using the buzzword is intelligent and an expert in the particular field that he or she is discussing. It is often a "neologism" which Wikipedia defines as "a word, term or phrase recently created or coined to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary." An example of a neologism would be the term "e-mail".

Buzzwords are different from jargon in that the latter has a more definite, sometimes even technical. In the case of buzzwords, these are simply vogue words created to impress a lay audience and create a sense of knowledge and intelligence for the speaker.

The corporate setting is the most common venue for the abusive use of buzzwords. In fact, a negative reaction to the excessive use by senior personnel of these terms has given rise to "buzzword bingo" — a game invented in 1993 by bored staff members who distribute bingo-like cards among players during a corporate meeting. These bingo-like cards list a number of buzzwords like "paradigm" and "proactive" which players check off as their bosses begin to spout them. The first one to fill in a line of words is the winner. Played mostly underground by staff members until 1994, this game turned into an overnight hit after Dilbert did a comic strip on it and the Wall Street Journal ran a front-page article about the game.

When you think about it, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with coining a few new words every now and then. In fact, it is a sign that the English language has remained healthy and continues to grow. The problem with buzzwords is that they are created mainly to impress and give a false-sense of importance and knowledge. In this regard, it makes the very act of spouting these words the height of pretentiousness and hypocrisy, not exactly a very positive thing.

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