The Most Popular Corporate Jargon by State

We love to use business jargon, even though 88 percent of Americans have only pretended to understand jargon spouted by a co-worker. However, apparently, we don’t use the same jargon in every state. Textio looked through over a million job postings and pulled out the jargon most popular in each state.

In addition, they found that jargon filled job postings actually took longer to fill–three times as long as a job description that stayed away from the jargon. So, use this as a caution to keep these phrases out of your job postings when you are hiring.

CREDIT: Textio

Here’s the most often used jargon in each state:

• Alabama — Value add
• Alaska — Corporate values
• Arkansas– Driven results
• Arizona–Build synergy
• California — Tee Up
• Colorado — Change driver
• Connecticut — Leverage expertise
• Delaware — Exhibits good judgement
• Florida — Win-win outcome
• Georgia — Hit your numbers
• Hawaii — Magic Happens
• Iowa — Exit strategy
• Idaho — Achieve alignment
• Illinois — Be action-oriented
• Indiana — Fire in the belly
• Kansas — Identify opportunity
• Kentucky — Possess strength
• Louisiana — Synergize
• Massachusetts — Thought leaders
• Maryland — Corporate alignment
• Maine — Goes the extra mile
• Michigan– Eye of the tiger
• Minnesota — Face time
• Mississippi — Bring to the table
• Missouri — Company value
• Montana — Strategic initiative
• Nebraska — Overachiever
• Nevada — Increase productivity
• New Hampshire — Manage escalation
• New Jersey — In our DNA
• New Mexico — Close the loop
• New York — Herd cats
• North Carolina — Good practice
• North Dakota- Drives change
• Ohio — Out of the park
• Oklahoma — Bleeding edge
• Oregon — Revolutioneering
• Pennsylvania — Message alignment
• Rhode Island — Push the envelope
• South Carolina — Buy in
• South Dakota — Reach out to you
• Tennessee — Touch base
• Texas — Statement of duties
• Utah — Learnings
• Vermont — KPIs
• Virginia — Not intimidated
• Washington — Through the roof
• Washington DC — Shift the paradigm
• West Virginia — Off the floor
• Wisconsin — Blaze the trail
• Wyoming — Strategic communications

So, if you’re having trouble filling your positions, take a look at your job descriptions. Go ahead and blaze that trail, shift that paradigm, and close that loop by pulling out the jargon and say what you mean. Although, I have to support New York’s cat herding jargon, because, let’s face it, a lot of HR jobs are exactly like herding cats.