Are you annoyed by the way in which the increasing use of jargon and buzzwords are undermining the clarity of communication? Then why not have a bit of fun by playing Business Buzzword Bingo.

The purpose of the game is not to undermine people, but to draw attention to the fact that there are many words that are creeping into the every day vernacular of business that have no dictionary definition. How then can we be sure that we all attach the same meaning to these words and phrases?

So next time you are writing a proposal, presentation or report, don't hide your message behind the ambiguity of buzzwords say what you want to say in plain, direct English.

medal (v) WYSIWYG revisit granularity smartsize envisioning rightsize action (v) offshoring productize negative margin stake in the ground reverse engineer gating factor sub-optimal take it offline add value there's no "I" in team involuntary retirement leverage incent (v) whatever it takes rubber stamp ramifications

The rules

Hand out different Business Buzzword Bingo cards to your friends and colleagues. Then, during a meeting, seminar, presentation or course, cross off any of the words on your card that you hear used. The winner is the first person to get four words in a row or the person with the most words crossed off at the end of the event. The "Bingo" square in the centre of the card is a free square that counts as one word.

Although it is traditional to shout 'Bingo!' when you have got four words in a row, you may like to devise a more subtle means of announcing your victory.

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