Offender: Put a pin in it
Every one of us has been an email chain which is borderline unintelligible for the amount of corporate lingo thrown in there. At City A.M., we’re taking a stand and calling out the worst jargon which travels around the City faster than you can drink an overpriced pint. This week: Put a pin in it
What does it mean?
To come back to something at a later date. Like putting a pin in a pin board.
What does it really mean?
We will never address this again. Like putting a pin in a balloon. (See also: circle back)
Who uses it?
Manic managers who don’t have time for your petty affairs I’m afraid. There may be a lion on the loose or an approaching apocalypse, but Q3 impressions are down 0.13 per cent – so let’s just stick a pin in that for now and ask the four horsemen if they can put that in an email shall we? Offenders rarely use an actual noticeboard, but if they did you can be sure it’d look something like Charlie’s in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (pictured).
What could it be confused with?
Actual pins in actual pinboards
A genuine intention to come back to your problem
Voodoo
Should we be worried?
Undoubtedly. Undoubtedly. Put-a-pin-in-it-ers are at their core reckless avoidants, and it’s time for them to face the consequences of their reckless management of their imaginary noticeboards.
How do we get rid of it?
As always, take them at their word. Every time you are asked to put a pin in it, take said issues, write them down, and dutifully pin them onto your colleague’s desk. Jargon users may be cretins, but they are usually not completely devoid of human emotions like shame. Seeing their palace of pinned promises before them should elicit at least a morsel of regret. If not, if will provide a minor convenience, and we’re not above counting that as a triumph.
Corporate ick rating: 6/10