We have all used, yours truly included, buzzwords at one time or another. These zingy, fashionable tidbits of popular vernacular describe big ideas in business, but not necessarily how to accomplish them. They drive me crazy, because they are in their least harmful state the building blocks of annoying corporate speak, and in their most extreme cases, failure.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about (but, if you work in corporate America, I think it’s highly probable that you do), I encourage you to watch the following video for some prime examples of these dubious phrases. In the latest promo for their new marketing platform, software juggernaut Adobe pokes fun at the advertising industry’s increasing inability to sidestep hard questions through buzzwords, a tactic utilized since, well, the beginning of the industry itself. To these marketers, Adobe proudly proclaims, “We’re onto you.”

How many times have you wanted to falcon punch (or just electrocute a little) a buzzword user during a meeting? Deliciously speaking to that sentiment, the takeaway from the Adobe Marketing Cloud commercial is clear: The person who uses buzzwords is either attempting to a) mask their own ineptitude or b) impress or distract the audience with purposely abstract terminology.

The trouble with buzzwords is that they sound good without really saying anything. In a corporate world where employees from entry level to top leadership are grasping for straws in attempt to define meaningful goals and unique concepts, sounding like you know what you’re talking about is one of the only weapons left in the arsenal.

Buzzwords, however, create more confusion than they do clarity.

I’ve sat in numerous meetings where terms such as “shifting paradigms,” “halo effect,” and “integrating cross-functional strategies” are thrown around with the frequency of insults on a reality TV show. While these words are impressive in a sense because they hint at concepts that are original or trendy, people rarely understand them.

What ensues is a massive failure to communicate. Staff members (and clients) don’t ask for clarification on nebulous terminology because they’re too afraid of being judged by their peers. The consequences, however, are numerous and rarely pleasant, as unclear, muddled objectives result in project discord.

This begs the question: What purpose do these fancy buzzwords serve if no one knows what’s actually going on?

Writers like Malcolm Gladwell and Steven Johnson don’t talk over their readers, but they don’t dumb down their messages for them either. They weave encyclopedic, though accessible, vocabulary with rich story-telling, illustrating each point until it’s cleanly defined but not further. Their writing is simultaneously intellectual and warm, communicating to the reader as if they were their smartest friend talking over a “let’s catch up” beer.

Buzzwords are easy, but they’re a trap, a crime that’s almost too tantalizing not to commit. In his essay, Politics and the English Language, George Orwell warns writers of the dangers of idioms and popular, preconceived language. According to Orwell, the laziness and convenience of using buzzwords inevitably stifles original ideas. Unsurprisingly, because it’s Orwell, the theme quickly culminates in thought control through propaganda, but the following quote sums up what I’m trying to intimate:

“This invasion of one’s mind by ready-made phrases…can only be prevented if one is constantly on guard against them, and every such phrase anesthetizes a portion of one’s brain.”

Communication should be like a highly usable website layout, simultaneously describing objectives in simplistic, easily navigable ways while thoughtfully engaging the recipient. This is obviously much easier said than done, and something I continuously work to improve, but is the end to which we should all strive.

Let me close with these analogies: Apple products aren’t popular because they’re complicated; they’re popular because they embrace intuitiveness and simplicity. Helvetica isn’t necessarily a better font, but it’s a lot easier to understand than calligraphy.

The next time you ask someone to “circle back” or go for “low-hanging fruit,” ask yourself, “Do I even understand what I’m saying?”