--- title: Top Gobbledygook phrases and how to avoid them description: Press releases are full of meaningless jargon that tells readers nothing. In other words, they are full of gobbledygook. Here's a list of the the 25 most common gobbledygook phrases you'll see, and some tips for how to avoid them in your own writing. image: https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604928275-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201156f118479970c-200wi.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2009/04/top-gobbledygook-phrases-used-in-2008-and-how-to-avoid-them.html#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # Top Gobbledygook phrases and how to avoid them April 8th, 2009 1 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) ![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604928275-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201156f118479970c-200wi.jpg?width=200&height=49&name=6a00d83451f23a69e201156f118479970c-200wi.jpg) *Boston, MA - April 8, 2009 - David Meerman Scott is pleased to announce innovative solutions for new and improved, next generation, cost effective, world class, high performance, value added outcomes. * **Does the sentence above suck or what?? ** That's how so many PR people write — using gobbledygook-laden phrases that are so overused to have become meaningless. [![Dj_insight](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604928275-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201156f118479970c-200wi.jpg)](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e201156f118479970c-pi) I have just completed an analysis of all 711,123 press releases distributed by North American companies in 2008 through Business Wire, Marketwire, GlobeNewswire, and PR Newswire. The project looked at 325 gobbledygook phrases from a variety of sources, with the detailed analysis on the number of uses for each phrase done using Dow Jones Insight. **Here are the top 25 gobbledygook phrases used in press releases sent in North America 2008.** [![2009_gobbledygook](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604928290-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201156f1186c6970c-350wi.jpg)](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e201156f1186c6970c-popup) **Gobbledygook terms were drawn from these sources:** [![Gobbledygook](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604928305-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e20167637d5cb0970b-320wi.jpg "Gobbledygook")](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e20167637d5cb0970b-pi) - Informal survey of my journalist friends in order to create [The Gobbledygook Manifesto](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/documents/3703Gobbledygook.pdf), first published in 2007. - Seth Godin's [Encyclopedia of Business Clichés](http://www.squidoo.com/businesscliches). - [This Paperclip is a Solution](http://smithwinchester.wordpress.com/2007/03/): A survey of general business and trade publication editors in September, 2006 by Dave Schmidt, VP, Public Relations Services at Smith-Winchester, Inc. - The book [Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak Are Strangling Public Language](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000EPFVM8/freshspotpubl-20) by Don Watson - Suggestions within comments in a [Gobbledygook blog post](https://www.webinknow.com/2006/10/the_gobbledygoo.html) I wrote in 2006. [![New Rules of Marketing and PR](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/413105/112bb6d7-07dd-4985-b988-211b5008fd39.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/413105/112bb6d7-07dd-4985-b988-211b5008fd39) [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. Connect: [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com) Topics: [ Worst Practices ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/worst-practices) [ Press Release Content ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/press-release-content) [ Public Relations ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/public-relations) [ writing ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/writing) [ copywriting ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/copywriting) [ Marketing ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/marketing) [ Research and Analysis ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/research-and-analysis) Don't forget to share this post: ## Related Articles [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Pirated%20books.jpg?width=1500&height=1000&name=Pirated%20books.jpg) ### Move Fast and Steal Things: Meta Pirated 53 of My Books and Stories to Train Their AI March 26th, 2025|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/move-fast-and-steal-things-meta-pirated-53-of-my-books-and-stories-to-train-their-ai) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Toyota%20website.jpg?width=1253&height=822&name=Toyota%20website.jpg) ### Automaker Website Frustrations Push Buyers Elsewhere December 10th, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/automaker-website-frustrations-push-buyers-elsewhere) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Do%20not%20play%20Yamaha.jpg?width=1500&height=1125&name=Do%20not%20play%20Yamaha.jpg) ### Please Do Not Play Without Permission November 12th, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/please-do-not-play-without-permission) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Teen%20and%20Young%20Adult%20AI.jpg?width=1338&height=886&name=Teen%20and%20Young%20Adult%20AI.jpg) ### Generative AI Not Understood By Young People… Educators Are To Blame July 9th, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/generative-ai-not-understood-by-young-people-educators-are-to-blame) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Crush%20Apple%20video.jpg?width=1500&height=845&name=Crush%20Apple%20video.jpg) ### Apple’s Soul Crushing, Creator Destroying Metaphor for what AI is Doing to Society May 8th, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/apples-soul-crushing-creator-destroying-metaphor-for-what-ai-is-doing-to-society) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_126631127.jpg?width=1500&height=999&name=shutterstock_126631127.jpg) ### Customer Testimonials Are Not Effective Storytelling March 26th, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/customer-testimonials-are-not-effective-storytelling) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/we%20annoy%20our%20clients.jpg?width=1000&height=670&name=we%20annoy%20our%20clients.jpg) ### We Annoy Our Customers March 5th, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/we-annoy-our-customers) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_272153462%20copy.jpg?width=1000&height=628&name=shutterstock_272153462%20copy.jpg) ### Legal Caution vs. PR Clarity: University Presidents' Legal Advisors Muddled Congressional Testimonies December 19th, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/legal-caution-vs.-pr-clarity-university-presidents-legal-advisors-muddled-congressional-testimonies-on-antisemitism) [![Man holding a tablet computer with tip options](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_2328873613.jpg?width=1500&height=1000&name=shutterstock_2328873613.jpg) ### Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should October 19th, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/just-because-you-can-doesnt-mean-you-should) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/max%20logo%20win.jpg?width=925&height=621&name=max%20logo%20win.jpg) ### Max Mayhem: Warner Bros. 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](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/when-fandom-turns-into-a-cult) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/An%20Ugly%20Truth%20cover.jpg) ### An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination July 14th, 2021|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/an-ugly-truth-inside-facebooks-battle-for-domination) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott" }, "dateModified" : "2020-05-11T19:48:38.306Z", "datePublished" : "2009-04-08T10:55:47.000Z", "headline" : "Top Gobbledygook phrases and how to avoid them", "image" : [ "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604928275-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201156f118479970c-200wi.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2009/04/top-gobbledygook-phrases-used-in-2008-and-how-to-avoid-them.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, 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