Bizzwords: From Ad Creep to Zero Drag, a Guide to Today's Emerging Vocabulary by Gregory Bergman

The English language isn't static. It changes and grows all the time, with new words and phrases being added to the lexicon, and old ones dropping out (After all, when is the last time you heard anyone say "23 Skidoo"?). These days, many of the new words and phrases come from business, technology and the internet. This book is a lexicon of these new terms, many of which come from business, and are therefore called "Bizz Words" rather than Buzz words.

The phrases are occasionally amusing, such as "Another 419", which means it's a scam similar to the Nigerian scams that seem to appear in people's mailboxes all across America every day, and "Prairie-dogging", which is what happens when something interesting happens near a cubicle farm (People's heads pop up over the edge of their cubicles to see what is going on). A variant of Cubicle Farm is a "Veal Pen", likening work in a cubicle to how farmers raise calves for veal (not letting them move around much or at all). "Blamestorming" is a meeting where people discuss where to place the blame for a bad business decision, and a "Dot Snot" is a child of the people who got rich in the Dotcom boom, and who is as welcome as a spoiled brat.

Culled from the pages of business articles and the internet, this book is your guide to new terminology that will keep you on the cutting edge when it comes to biz-speak. Is your company suffering from a "Bozo Explosion"? (An increasing number of employees who are incompetent at their jobs), or are the executives all "Fad Surfing"? (Adopting a management style because it's popular, and not because it actually suits the company) Or is the company "Brightsizing" (Getting rid of the most intelligent workers), "Rightsizing" (a new term for getting fired) or "Rightsourcing"? (sending jobs out of the country to a place where the new workers will work for less than Americans) If they are, you'll now know what to call it.

This small, amusing book contains approximately 80 new phrases in the areas of business, internet and advertising, all of which are appropriate, and which are usually amusing. You could read this book in less than a day, but the smiles will last for longer. Make yourself seem to be on the cutting edge by dropping a few of these phrases into your next conversation, and reap the benefits. You might even be able to join in the pointy-haired bosses!