What Jargon Says About Your Company Culture
Written by admin on December 17, 2025
Anne Curzan, English professor at the University of Michigan, studies the evolution of language. While many of us roll our eyes at bizspeak—from synergy to value-add to operationalize—Curzan defends business jargon. She says the words we say around the office speak volumes about our organizations and our working relationships. She shares how to use jargon more deliberately, explains the origin of some annoying or amusing buzzwords, and discusses how English became the global business language and how that could change.
Key episode topics include: business communication, leadership, organizational culture
- Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Business Jargon Isn’t All Bad
- Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
- Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at hbr.org