- If you hear such a question don’t smile or get offended, because yebita (EBIT) is earnings before interest and taxes. When someone asks you this question they are not joking or trying to look smart; they actually need this information. Be professional: make a poker face and give a quick answer (memorizing this slang term).
- So, if you don’t consider yourself to be a pro at corporate slang and have trouble understanding phrases like «HR provel assessment» и «soglasui s ka-se», you really need to read this article.
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What kind of words are these?!
- This is, as we said before, corporate slang. However, before going to the corporate kind, let’s deal with the term slang.
- Slang consists of a lexicon of non-standard words and phrases in a given language. Such words are used by certain groups of people (depending on age, social status, profession). Despite a popular opinion, slang is used by well-educated people, too. Slang is not a signature of low social status.
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Why do we use slang?
- 1. It shows who you are. Slang helps us identify a person. It’s possible to understand what social group a person belongs to just by listening to the way he or she speaks. If you hear someone use words like tusa, phignya, kek, lol, it means that the speaker is a young person. Words like babki, dat’ na lapu, ment are criminal jargon. Tolknut’ nasos in technical jargon is not push it (or sell it) but simple turn it on. We can make such examples for as long as there are social groups left.
- 2. Expressiveness. Sometimes it gets kind of tight within the boundaries of «accepted» language. So, a writer or a speaker gets this desire to say something new. Slang makes our speech sound fresh. Thanks to slang and loanwords words languages can develop (read more about loanwords words in our article).
- 3. Simple communication. It’s way easier to say «share doc pls» instead of «give me access to the doc, please» (if you know the slang, of course). This way messages are delivered faster and the working process becomes more efficient.
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Corporate slang vocabulary
- What’s special about corporate slang is that it mainly consists of words from the English language. Most of them are words (skipnut’ — miss, day-off) and some of them are abbreviations (ASAP, KPI, EBIT). Such words are very popular in international companies. Russian companies almost don’t use them.
- Every company’s corporate culture is different, but it’s possible to make a general vocabulary of the most popular words and phrases.
- Attention. This stuff is not taught in college!
- 1. Proapdeitit’ (update) — keep someone posted.
- Example: «Proapdeity menya on this matter»
- 2. PM — project manager.
- 3. Zaapruvit’ — approve something.
- Example: «PM zaapruvil?»
- 4. Kosty — cost.
- Example: «Kosty bol’shiye?»
- 5. Feedback — review.
- Example: «Rebyata, ostav’te feedback».
- 6. HR — human resources.
- Example: «Ona rabotayet v HRe».
- 7. Ka-se — customer service.
- Example: «soglasuy s ka-se».
- 8. Assumption — making a supposition.
- Example: «Nu chto? Kakoy assumption?»
- 9. Scorecard — list of results of a project.
- Example: «Scorecard khoroshiy?»
- 10. Good will — something you do not because you have to, but because you want to help. If a colleague asks you to do something that is not your job.
- Example: «My sdelali eto kak good will».
- 11. FTE — full-time employee.
- Example: «Skolko u vas eftief?»
- 12. ROI — return of investment.
- 13. P&L — profit and loss. A chart with expenses and income (month, week). It’s needed for ROI.
- 14. Pipeline — something in process of development. A list of clients that we need to sell something to, a project in development.
- Example: «Prishli mne pipeline».
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Is it OK to use slang?
- There is no definite answer.
- On the one hand, it contaminates out language, on the other — it simplifies communication. It’s important to keep the balance. If an experienced worker uses such words with a rookie, it can be taken as disrespect, because it’s obvious that he can’t understand anything. However, slang is appropriate among workers of the same level.
The rule is: the better you know someone, the more slang words you can use. In the end, slang is meant to make communication simple, not vice versa.
- Hopefully, our slang vocabulary will help you understand a company’s corporate culture and get used to it faster.