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More often than not people just forget the fact they need to brainstorm to save their business and end up sitting there thinking, what does that MEAN? 

Here are 15 hideous manglings of the English language that have you running for the boardroom door. 

1.  It Is What It Is

It's that one mentioned above.  Of course it is what it is!  The inanity of it knows no bounds.  And imagine if someone stood up and said 'No, it isn't what it is, that's not what it is.  It is what it isn't.' 

Chances are time would stop, a black hole would open up and our world would be swallowed up.  It's that bad. 

2.  Low-hanging fruit

No, your boss isn't encouraging you to go scrumping for apples.  Apparently this means it's the easiest target to reach so let's do that first.  Rather than reach for the stars, like SClub7. 

Personally, I'd prefer people to keep their hands of my low-hanging fruit. 

3.  Thunderthought

When I first heard this I thought my boss had said thunderpants and I started hooting with laughter until I realised he and everyone else was deadly serious.  Why not use brainstorm? 

It's frowned upon because of its connotations of someone suffering a fit.  So thunderthought's the word now.  I think thunderpants is better. 

4.  Drinking the Kool Aid

This phrase comes from a 1978 event where hundreds of members of the People's Temple cult of Jim Jones drunk Kool Aid laced with cyanide and committed suicide. 

Now it means obsessively swallowing the company line, good or bad.  I'm too young to die inside. 

5.  Strategic staircase

This is just two words randomly put together to really, really, really, really annoy everyone who hears it.  It is supposed to signify the range of tools you need to build your business.  In fact it means nothing.  NOTHING. 

6.  Boil the Ocean

If you're a fan of global warming then on the face of it the human race appears to be doing this quite successfully. 

But in fact it means something that's a waste of time.  Like trying to stop global warming. 

7.  Eating your own dog food

Before you reach for the nearest tin of Pedigree Chum, STOP.  It means a company using its own products for its own operations.  Barking, if you ask me. 

8.  Drill Down

The definition is 'accessing data which is in a lower level of a hierarchically structured database'.  My brain cannot compute.  I'm off to drill my head down to a toilet seat. 

9.  Paralysis by analysis

Don't try and analyse this one.  You'll be paralysed within seconds. 

10.  Sucking your own exhaust

There are websites for this, I've been told, especially if you mishear the first word.  But in the boardroom it means believing your own PR rubbish. 

11.  Sprinkling our magic

A truly hideous phrase which seems to be a favourite among call centre managers.  We're just doing our job, we're not pupils at Hogwarts! 

12.  Digital native

Again, two words that sit together for no apparent reason whatsoever.  There are no groups of bronze-age style warriors brandishing their iPads as weapons shouting 'ug'. 

Apparently this refers to those born in the digital age.  Then just say 'those born in the digital age'. 

13.  Brexit means Brexit

OK, it's not a business buzzword.  But it's still REALLY ANNOYING. 

14.  Let's take that offline

Let's go into an office and talk, you mean? 

15.  Emojis

When I see one sent by a colleague the last thing I have is a smiley face. 

What buzzwords or phrases drive you crazy?  As Gus from Drop The Dead Donkey said, why don't you stir this in our thinkwok at insider.co.uk?