What People Say At Work Vs. What They Mean

99 office cliches, translated.

Photo illustration by Matt Tucker, Martina Barbist/Thinkstock/EDHAR/Shutterstock

1. "Breakout session" - We will sit in a room and repeat very dull ideas.

2. "As a team we need to break out of our individual siloes" - We all hate each other.

3. "Let's action this" - I don't understand the difference between nouns and verbs.

4."I'll inbox you" - I'm a bit of a twat.

5. "Let's take this offline" - I'm a massive twat.

6. "We wish x the best of luck in her new job" - Burn in hell, traitor.

7. "It's been great working with you guys, and I'll really miss this team" - So long, suckers.

8. "Our model is scalable" - The company will either grow, or it'll shrink. One of the two.

9. "Skyrocketing revenues" - Negligible profits.

10. "Sharp uptick" - Tiny, almost imperceptible increase.

11. CC - I am passive aggressively alerting as many senior people as possible to your fuck-up.

12. [On the phone] "Could you put this in an email?" - Which I will ignore.

13. "I'm going freelance" - I miss daytime TV.

14. "We are tax efficient" - We avoid paying tax.

15. "I'm an SEO expert" - I know how to put keywords in a headline.

16. "I'm an analytics expert" - I've got a Google Analytics log-in.

17. "I'm a social media expert" - I'm a bullshitter.

18. "Ninja" - Douchebag.

19. "Community manager" - Person who writes the tweets.

20. "I've decided to step down" - I've been given a massive payoff.

21. "We just had different visions for where the company was going" - They found out I'd been embezzling funds.

22. "In this brainstorm, there are no bad ideas" - This brainstorm will be nothing but bad ideas.

23. "Moving on to pastures new" - Fired.

24. "We're restructuring the company" - Everyone is fired.

25. "We've brought in a team of consultants" - Everyone is about to be fired.

26. "You're fired" - I think I'm Alan Sugar.

27. "By mutual agreement..." - The boss thinks...

28. "It's time for a fresh challenge" - I literally couldn't stand being in the same room as you a day longer.

29. "I can't wait to get started!" - I actually can, but everyone has to say this, right?

30. "I'm taking a career break" - I will be sitting in my pants watching Jeremy Kyle and crying for the next three months.

31. "I've been offered a fantastic opportunity elsewhere" - I've been offered more money.

32. "Got time for a chat?" - Prepare for the worst.

33. "Can I have a word?" - We will have many, many, many, many, many words.

34. "Can I have a quick word?" - I don't have anything to discuss, I just like putting the fear of God into you.

35. "Have you got a minute?" - You've got a minute.

36. "We need to develop a more agile workflow" - We should probably stop titting about on Facebook all day.

37. "Quick pint after work" - Several pints after work, and quite possibly some shots too.

38. "Merger" - Excuse to fire everybody.

39. "Following the restructuring, X will be taking on some additional responsibilities" - We have chosen our fall guy and have set them up to take all the blame for our fuckups.

40. "MORNING TEAM!" - Everyone hates me.

41. "Exciting new position" - It isn't an exciting position.

42. "I've been recently reading the biography of Steve Jobs" - I am not Steve Jobs and never will be.

43. "Core values" - Making money.

44. "This is a really great opportunity for our business" - We're sooooooooo screwed.

45. "I don't think there's ever been a more exciting time to be working in this field" - We're soooooooooo sooooooooooooooo screwed.

46. "The Chinese symbol for 'crisis' is a combination of the symbols for 'danger' and 'opportunity'" - We are so profoundly screwed you wouldn't believe.

47. "Company away day" - Must we?

48. "I know how to code" - I know how to italicise things in HTML.

49. "Let's park this for now" - Let's never mention this ever again.

50. "Welcome to the company, lovely to meet you!" - Get promoted above me and I will cut you.

51. "I'm an experienced manager" - I bought a book from WH Smith on being a manager.

52. "I'm working from home today" - I'm not doing any work today.

53. "I've got the lurgy" - I'm hungover.

54. "I've got man flu" - I'm hungover.

55. "I've got a doctor's appointment" - I'm hungover.

56. "We should run this past legal" - We should have someone else to blame in case this goes tits up.

57. "It's been a challenging year" - We're totally fucked.

58. "We're seeking new revenue streams" - We're broke.

59. "We're restructuring our financing" - We're broke but not ready to admit it.

60. "The economic outlook is uncertain" - The economic outlook is apocalyptic.

61. "The company is perfectly positioned to meet the tough economic challenges ahead" - The end is nigh.

62. "It's been a great year" - For our shareholders.

63. "The success we've had is down to every single one of you" - We're all getting bonuses. You're not.

64. "The door to my office is always open" - I wish facilities would bloody fix it.

65. "Happy Birthday!" - We've never spoken. Why am I signing this?

66. "Pub after work? Can't, I've got plans I'm afraid" - I've spent quite enough time with you people for one day.

67. "Anyone fancy a cup of tea?" - Offer strictly limited to the three people in my immediate vicinity.

68. "Nipping to the shops, anyone want anything?" - Within reason. I'm not your fucking dogsbody.

69. "What are you eating there? Looks nice" - I'm on the 5:2 diet and I'm so hungry and miserable I could scream.

70. "Cycled to work, eh? Good for you" - You smug bastard.

71. "I want more responsibility" - I want a pay rise.

72. "I'm giving a presentation" - I've put some boring graphs together in Powerpoint.

73. "In my last company…" - What I'm about to say is totally irrelevant.

74. "Team player" - Has basic social skills, is not an outright sociopath.

75. "This is beyond my remit" - I can't be arsed to deal with this.

76. "I'll take your ideas on board" - I'll steal your ideas and take credit for them.

77. "He's certainly ambitious" - He's appalling.

78. "It's been a pleasure working with you" - I've forgotten you already.

79. "How's the wife?" - I've forgotten your wife's name.

80. "How are the kids?" - I've forgotten your kids' names.

81. "How are things at home?" - I've forgotten everything about you.

82. "How was your weekend?" - It's Monday or Tuesday.

83. "What are you up to this weekend?" - It's Thursday or Friday.

84. "...." - It's Wednesday.

85. "Come intern for us" - Come work for us for no money indefinitely. It's illegal but hey.

86. "He's intensely results-driven" - He's a psycho.

87. "Doesn't suffer fools gladly" - Merciless bastard.

88. "He's the office entertainer" - Total wanker.

89. "She'll go far" - She's terrifying.

90. "He's straight-talking" - Every other word is fuck.

91. "Best wishes" - I'm dying inside.

92. "Regards" - This job is slowly killing me.

93. "Xxxxxx" - I'm overly affectionate.

94. "XOX" - I'm zany.

95. :-) - I'm childish.

96. x - I typed this by mistake. Awkward.

97. "Cheers!" - I hate you!

98. "Yours" - Up yours.

99. "Kind regards" - Go fuck yourself.

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