Comments on: Marketing speak that makes you cringe – in any language.

By: Andrew Mann

Andrew Mann — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:36:48 +0000

I enjoyed reading your interesting post. We posted an article on a similar theme recently, although not marketing – the use of business jargon. Have a look and see what you think: http://www.ways-with-words.com/blog/

By: Paula

Paula — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:09:58 +0000

I translate from German to English (mostly U.S.) and the English words that are used in German with slightly different meanings and usage annoy me the most: there’s new fashion designed “for summer feeling” and business terminology like “People Excellence” and “Global Player”. These terms are hard to back translate into English and sometimes clients wonder why they aren’t left as is. It’s not New German (Neudeutsch) or Denglisch, it’s just strange, ineffective language that’s hard to understand, let alone translate.

By: Oliver Lawrence

Oliver Lawrence — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:09:01 +0000

Some good points Philippa, which chime with my own experience in translating (in my case) Italian marketing-speak, which tends to need toning down for its breast-beating earnestness and overuse of ‘emozioni’

By: Jonathan Downie

Jonathan Downie — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:09:52 +0000

For me it has to be “hot.” I am sorry but if my new computer is “hot,” it means that the fan is on the blink and it needs to be sent back for repairs!

Of course, “X is the new black” comes a close second. Has anyone else noticed that practically everything in French is “de pointe” right now?

By: Adam Sherk

Adam Sherk — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:33:34 +0000

Hi Philipa,

I’m glad you enjoyed my post. I hadn’t even though about overused buzzwords and marketing speak in other languages, that’s a great point. It would be interesting to learn how much overlap (in terms of meaning and usage) there is across multiple languages.

By: Chris Irwin

Chris Irwin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:32:52 +0000

As has been said for many years in marketing “You don’t sell a product, you sell an idea.” To communicate that idea, you need to paint pictures with words.

One favourite pet hate of mine in EN is ‘leverage’ when used outside its mechanical or financial context as a noun, ostensibly meaning ‘to optimise, to take advantage of, to benefit from’ or even just ‘to use’.

Unconvinced? Then take a deep breath and check this out: http://xrl.us/bhqk8g

In German a hated (headline/footline/logo (whatever) is the pathetic one used so often by SME’s: “Ihr zuverlässiger Partner für…” (Your reliable partner for…)

Google regurgitates some 470,000 of these!

A much-respected colleague of mine always claimed that the following general rule of thumb should apply in general translation:

*Who is supposed to read this?
*Will they understand it?
*Will they enjoy reading it?

Seems he wasn’t the only one who thought that way!