Demystifying workplace jargons

July 1, 2008 

“I don’t have the bandwidth”, I said a few weeks ago in a conversation with a person from a different field. I didn’t realize it when I used it the first time; when I repeated the cliched expression a few minutes later, the puzzled look on the person’s face made me clarify what I meant - in simple English.  I meant to say, ” I don’t have the time and resources to do what you are suggesting.”

Cliched phrases such as this one are used liberally in the Indian IT industry.  It’s not a good idea to use these jargons to appear cool in front of people who are not from your fraternity.  For fun, I made a glossary of some commonly used phrases and what they mean:


Let’s think out of the box: Means “Can you creatively challenged people come up with fresh ideas?” Funny to assume how by saying this, people expect others to wear the creative hat and start churning out new ideas by the dozen.


Let’s take this offline: Means “I’d rather not let others in on our secret because it could mean doomsday for you, me or both of us.” On a serious note, “let’s discuss in private.”



Are we on the same page/ wavelength? : A favorite expression of most managers that means “do we understand each other or is there some room for confusion?” And is usually used when no one in the audience has understood a word of what was just said - shows on the faces, dude!

Status meetings – When a team is neck deep in work, it’s common practice to summon a status meeting – the perfect alternative to work when hours are spent discussing what needs to get done. The alarming frequency at which it happens leaves no time to do real work.


Filling timesheets – a weekly activity that gives one an opportunity to be creative and account for the time spent that week.

I’m calling to touchbase - Means “I didn’t get what you said but didn’t want to appear stupid. So I gave it some time and now am calling back to go over it again.”  Usually used  when you can’t say upfront what is needed and this is a roundabout of saying the same thing.

Do you have the bandwidth?  - Just being polite that implies “Do you have the time and resources to do this task? Or would you need an additional two hours to your 24-hour day” In most cases, an yes or no does not matter. The job has to get done.

Let’s keep this on our radar: Means “It’s an acknowledged pain area. The best we can do is to postpone for now for it will sure come to haunt us later. So let’s keep this in focus to get our attention.” A smart way of procrastinating!

Let’s close the loop: Means “I’ve done my part and I’ve nothing more to do with this.  Let’s agree upon that I will not be responsible if anything were to go wrong.”

Go-live: A word that gives nightmares to project teams and brings with it a good share of night-outs too. Signifies the day a project or product is implemented/launched. Never is it the same day that was decided. As stretchable as IST (Indian Standard ? Time)

Heads up: Means” You are going to face a rough time on this issue. I’m just warning you well in advance- discreetly- so you can be better prepared.” A word of caution - act is if you knew nothing about it!


From 20000 feet: Managers who prefer to be much higher than ground level at all times perceive problems too from a 20000 ft. One of the oft-repeated expressions from those higher up the ladder, it means to get the bigger picture and not be bothered with the nitty-grtties.

Cutting  edge: Use this for describing any technology and you’ll be considered a guru who knows it all. A highly overused expression that has lost its value. Was initially used to describe technologies or products that were new and ground-breaking in their application.

 I could just go on and on. Some others that are often used are “on a tangent”, “drill down”, “takeaway”…

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