This summer I’ve been working daily supporting a proposal for a big contract with the State Department. I am consulting for a subsidiary of a large, in-charge defense contractor who is a serious implementer of key concepts learned in business schools and refined in practice; stuff like modeling project data, optimizing strategies and solutions, assessing and mitigating risk, and in the case of proposals, painting very crafty pictures.

As I work with and learn from these folks in the organization, I try to think about what common theme contributes to their success. It’s become clear that aside from their big brains and corporate comb overs, they have all learned to use a specific business vocabulary (bizcabulary) that encompasses power verbs and clichés to express their point and provide vivid imagery and emphasis.

The folks often speak in active, not passive voices (think “I will”, not “I should”), massaging the proposal process to a point of selling business perfection. They are at the top of the business buzz word hierarchy, and I can’t help but smirk at the meaty phrases overheard during my hundred meetings summer.

I think some people go home at night and even spend time dreaming up these terms, hoping to impress the following day. Sometimes if I look close enough in meetings, I can see nods of understanding and approval (and sometimes an occasional sneer of jealousy) from peers after strong bizcabulary usage.

Action words are coveted in review sessions. One might gain points by using words like flesh out, target, bench mark, streamline, hyperfocus, optimize, re-square, tweak, noodle-up, scrub, spin, mine, synchronize, populate, leverage, and button up.

Solutions are sought after, ones that are fundamental, self-sustaining, or turn-key.

You don’t get together or meet, you mobilize or circle-back. People don’t just understand, approach, or think about work or ideas, they bore down, wrestle, and tackle them.

I hear the typical clichés like “That’s apples and oranges”, “Let’s keep our engine running”, and “This is the only long pole in the tent”, but I also hear more interesting ones like “That’s like drinking your own bathwater.”, “What’s the pedigree of the pricing model?”, and “There could be up to 20% in negotiation slop”.

You might hear a particularly garrulous manager say something like, “stop the arm flapping”, “let’s grab those floating thoughts”, or “fix the hangers”, which leads me to think about snotty things.

Some managers revert to kid speak to appeal to the masses. You might hear, “Just for gee whizzes”, “I want a warm and fuzzy”, “I need a sneak peak”, “Let’s meet for a pow-wow” and “Check off your Tiggy Boo list”.

Some are politically correct. “Keep it simple, Simon”.

Many want report cards, red-lines, layers, optics, and sanity checks. They also always talk about centralizing power. I’ve seen madness when documents don’t have document configuration control. Tasks need single belly buttons and you should never vector your sub-assignments to others without the task head approval.

It kills me sometimes. I hate to think one day I’d have to conform, but I suppose such is nature of big business, and that understanding and speaking the bizcabulary is simply apart of the game.