Thinking outside the box’ Voted UK’s Most Despised Business Phrase

LONDON – “Thinking outside the box” has been voted the United Kingdom’s most despised business waffling, or ‘buffling’ term, according to research unveiled today in a YouGov survey commissioned by business traveller-friendly Ramada Encore hotels.

“Buffling” refers to business phrases that do not say anything that is important or useful. The research found the top twenty most hated ‘buffling’ phrases to be:

(Ramada Hotel Wuxi, China, top right photo)

The survey also reveals that nearly half of working Britons (49 per cent) think buffling is on the rise in the workplace primarily because employees want to impress their bosses. Twenty per cent of respondents reported that they believe buffling has had or would have a positive impact on their career.

Business-speak also appears to be spreading outside the confines of the office. Forty six per cent of working respondents report they believed buffling outside the workplace occurs more than ever including in their own home and among their friends.

(Ramada Beirut, Downtown Lebanon, middle left photo)

Across Great Britain, the biggest bufflers are those who live in the East Midlands, with one in six (15 per cent), saying they buffle on a regular basis. In contrast, people in Liverpool and people in the Northwest are the least tolerant of buffling with seven out of ten stating they find it “very irritating.”

“As the vibrant and contemporary hotel offering for business travellers, Ramada Encore hotels commissioned this survey to better understand the “buffling” phenomenon,” said Zory Radnay-Florian, Wyndham Hotel Group’s marketing director for Ramada Encore hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“It’s bad enough when people at work talk about ‘blue-sky thinking’ and ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’, but now we’re starting to use these clichéd phrases at home.”

Radnay-Florian continued, “Buffling outside of the office could be due in part to the explosion in business reality TV shows, such as Dragons Den, The Apprentice and more recently, Natural Born Sellers, where buffling is commonplace and often positively encouraged among those fighting it out for fame and the best job.”

To see buffling in action, click here for the Ramada Encore buffling videos.

Ramada Encore hotels are part of Ramada Worldwide, a member of the Wyndham Hotel Group family of lodging brands. The Ramada Encore hotel experience is simple – fresh, vibrant and upbeat with comfortable and contemporary accommodations and innovative design.

Contact:
Christine Da Silva
Director, Media Relations
Wyndham Hotel Group
1 Sylvan Way
Parsippany, NJ 07054

+1 (973) 753-6590
Christine.DaSilva@WyndhamWorldwide.com