the.com/buzzword

A word that sounds like strategy but functions as camouflage for having none.

means A term — often technical-sounding or trendy — that gets used so often, and so loosely, that it signals importance more than it conveys actual meaning.

from A straightforward compound of "buzz" (the excited chatter or hum of talk) and "word," coined in the 20th century — originally academic slang for jargon students memorized to sound impressive on exams without necessarily understanding it. The "buzz" evokes the drone of a word repeated so often in meetings and memos that it becomes background noise, humming with implied significance while carrying less and less actual content.

origin
beekeepers once used it literally, for actual buzzing
peak offense
synergy, leverage, and circle back
corporate tell
confidence rises exactly as specificity falls
survival trick
sounds smart, means nothing, blocks follow-up questions
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