Figaro just wrote this piece for the Man Guide, about the stupid expressions that make you look like an office tool. Our favorite part (if we do say so ourselves) comes at the end,when we suggest replacement clichés that aren’t even clichés yet. Call them proto-clichés.
Air-kiss : Insincere praise, as in, “They totally air-kissed our presentation.”
Anaerobic : An unsustainable pace. From sports, when a sprinting athlete goes into oxygen deprivation.
Drop-set : Adding a few easy tasks to a hard one. From weightlifting, when you add a set with lower weights.
Drop the towel : Less sexist than “Open the kimono”; to operate transparently.
Eat the worm : Overdo it. You know, like getting drunk and eating the larva at the bottom of a bottle.
Ground-truth : Use instead of “due diligence” or “fact-check.” In satellite imaging it means checking the accuracy and interpretation of pictures from space.
Terminal velocity : Going as fast as we can before we hit the ground.
Yoga pants deadline : Tight and transparent.