Buzzword bingo for your next meeting
Play buzzword bingo during the meeting itself, with one link for the whole room. Everyone who opens it is dealt their own card from the same squares, and the first full line wins.
Send the room link. Mark each phrase you hear.
Room Squares Marked 0 of
Bingo
How to play buzzword bingo
How to play buzzword bingo in a meeting
Start a room before the meeting and send everyone the link. Then mark each phrase when a speaker says it.
- Pick a set under Squares, press Start a room, and send the link with Invite. Nobody installs anything.
- Each person who opens the link gets their own card from the room’s squares.
- Tap a phrase when it’s said, and tap it again to undo.
- The first full row, column or diagonal wins.
- Call bingo quietly in the side chat.
Pick a set of squares
The set you pick goes in the room link, so every card in the room comes from it.
| The squares | Number |
|---|---|
| Squares in the general set, for any meeting | 70 |
| Themed sets of 70, each for one kind of meeting | Nine |
| Phrases in one room, which every card draws from | 36 |
| Phrases on each card, plus a free square in the middle | 24 |
| Players who have a phrase on their card when it’s said | About two in three |
| Phrases needed for a line through the free square | Four |
Meeting bingo on Zoom and Teams
Keep your card in a browser tab beside the call, or on your phone. Reloading the page keeps your marks.
Where phones stay in pockets, print up to eight different corporate jargon bingo cards. Each page holds two.
Bullshit bingo, meeting bingo, buzzword bingo
Whatever your office calls it, the name buzzword bingo comes from an early 1993 Silicon Graphics tool by Tom Davis and Seth Katz. Chris Pirazzi put it on the web that year, and a Dilbert strip showed it on February 22, 1994.
Buzzword bingo and the meetings you sit through
How much of the week meetings take
The average professional sits through 17.1 meetings a week. Our Meeting or Email game is for the ones that could have been an email.
| A week of meetings | Number |
|---|---|
| Hours in meetings | 14.8 |
| Share of working time | 37% |
| Average length of a meeting | 51.9 minutes |
| Recurring meetings with no agenda | 64% |
| Meetings that start late | Half, by 75 seconds |
| Meetings on a Tuesday, the best day for a full card | 23% |
| Meetings on a Friday, the lightest day | 16% |
Which meetings fill a card fastest
A card fills fastest in a long meeting where nobody keeps the talk to an agenda. Weekly numbers meetings are a safe bet, since the senior half of the call chats until the hour is up. All-hands and reorg town halls have their own sets, and leadership reads the news off slides. Strategy offsites run all day, so even a slow card gets a line by lunch.
On an open floor, a phrase from the next team’s stand-up counts if you heard it clearly.
Where the squares come from
Each square is a phrase people say out loud, since you only mark what you hear. Every phrase in the general set also has an entry in our corporate jargon dictionary and a question in the daily jargon quiz.
| Phrase | How common it is |
|---|---|
| Circle back and synergy | The top two in one count of complaints about corporate buzzwords |
| Touch base | Said regularly by almost half of Australian office workers, with get the ball rolling a close second |
| Reaching out | In 6,117 out of a million work emails |
| Per my last email | In 89 of the same million, which is 89 more than anyone admits to sending |
The buzzword bingo squares
All 480 squares, set by set, each with what the speaker means.
General 70 squares
circle backtalk later, or neversynergyworking togethertouch basea call that could be a messagebandwidthtime to do morelow-hanging fruitthe easy winstake this offlinenot in front of everyoneleverageuseagilewe'll change the planreach outget in touchping memessage memove the needlemake a measurable differencepivotthe plan failedper my last emailyou didn't read itthink outside the boxtry something newon my radarI know, and that's allgame changera small change, said loudlydeliverableswhat we hand inplease advisetell me what to docadencehow often we meet about itmoving forwardfrom now onparadigm shiftthe same work, on a new slidebest practicewhat others doreinvent the wheelredo what existsducks in a roworganized firstput a pin in itpause thisget the ball rollingstarthit the ground runningstart fast, untraineddeep divea close look, in a long meetinggive 110%unpaid overtimewe're like a familystay late for freewin-wingood for them, fine for youin the loopcopied, never askedon the back burnerpostponed, quietlyhappy FridayI'm off, it's yourssynca meeting, called quickASAPnowKPIthe number your bonus watchesEODby tonight, their time zoneaction itemstasks, with your name on1:1your manager, on video from next doorthought leaderposts opinions before 6 amhard stopleaving at 3, staying till 3:20quick winthe easy bit, announced loudlybig picturefar enough away to miss the problemscheck ina call to ask if it's done yetalignedagreed, nobody knows on whatin the pipelineplanned or under wayROIwhat you got backbottom lineprofit after costsvalue addthe reason it costs morestakeholderanyone it affectsparking lotwhere topics go to stayETAwhen it'll be doneopen door policywalk in and talkon the same pageagreed, until the minutes go outat the end of the daywhen all's weighed upaction thisnow it's your jobdot the i's and cross the t'severy comma, checked twicemoving partslots of things, all latepark thisleave it, never collect itdrill downzoom in on the bad numberpiggybackingsaying it again, loudergoing forwarda new rule, starting nowback-to-backmeetings, no lunch betweenheavy liftingthe hard part, done by youloop inone more name on cckeep me postedupdate me, I won't askbrainstormshout ideas, keep noneabove my pay gradenot my call, not my salarybig aska lot, asked nicely
Sales 70 squares
EOQend of the quartercold callphoning strangers to sellupsellsell the pricier oneclose the dealget the signaturequotayour sales targetelevator pitcha one-minute pitchdecision makerthe one who signsleave money on the tablesold too cheapnumbers gamemore calls, more winssticker shockgasping at the pricebells and whistlesextras nobody needspitch deckslides that sellwarm leada buyer already interestedCRMsoftware tracking every dealcross-sellsell them something elseB2Bselling to companiesgatekeeperwho guards the buyeralways be closingalways push the saleRFPa formal bid requestwhalea huge clientdiscovery calla first fact-finding callvalue propositionwhy anyone should paypain pointthe customer's big problemtop of mindremembered firstcall to actionwhat to do nextfreemiumfree basics, paid extrasloss leadersold at a lossNPSwould you recommend usballpark figurea rough guessskin in the gameyour stake at riskbest-in-classthe best, supposedlygo-to-marketthe launch planfollowing upyou didn't replyfriendly reminderan annoyed reminderhop on a calltalk live insteadthe askwhat they wantbring to the tablewhat you adddue diligencechecking before a dealcash cowthe product paying for the restlowballoffer little, see if they blinkjust checking inhave you decided yethuddlea meeting, standing closerARRa year of subscriptions, projectedrun rateone good month, times twelvechurncustomers who stopped payingshare of wallettheir spend that comes to usNDAsign here, then we talkPOCa demo that must work oncehustleextra hours, said with energywinner's mindseteveryone ranked against everyone
Also in this set, listed above:
- circle back
- touch base
- bandwidth
- low-hanging fruit
- leverage
- reach out
- move the needle
- per my last email
- game changer
- please advise
- win-win
- ASAP
- KPI
- EOD
- check in
- in the pipeline
- ROI
- bottom line
- value add
- stakeholder
Engineering 70 squares
mission criticalit breaks without thisbleeding edgenew and riskylearningslessons, one syllable longerTBDnobody has decidediterationthis version, for nowSLAa promised response timefuture-proofbuilt to stay usefulAPIprograms asking programsvibe codingcoding by asking AIsprinta fixed work stretchbacklogunstarted, maybe foreverMVPthe smallest shippable versiontechnical debtold shortcuts slowing everythingit works on my machinethe bug is yourssunsetshut down for goodraise a ticketlog it and waitgo liveused for realstand-upthe short daily meetingretrolessons for next timepost-mortemwhy it went wrongkickoffthe first meeting of manycould have been an emaila waste of everyone's hourin the weedslost in small details30,000-foot viewthe big picture onlyheads upa warning, sent too lateasyncwritten, reply whenevergoing darkignoring chat to workscope creepthe project keeps growingroadmapwhat gets built whenscalablegrows without costs growingquick and dirtyrough but good enoughfirefightingone emergency after anotherfire drillpanic that didn't matterfocus timeblocked from meetingsescalatetake it higher upmove the goalpostschange the target midwayindividual contributorworks, manages nobodyscrumsprints, plus their meetingsship itrelease it, bugs and allfail fastfail early, call it learningwar roomone crisis, every calendar blockeddeep workthinking time, booked overproductivity theaterlooking busy, on purposeoffice hoursquestions only, Tuesdays 2 to 3WIPunfinished, so don't judgesoft deadlinea date everyone ignoresRACIwho does it, who's blamed
Also in this set, listed above:
- circle back
- bandwidth
- low-hanging fruit
- take this offline
- agile
- ping me
- deliverables
- best practice
- reinvent the wheel
- get the ball rolling
- deep dive
- sync
- EOD
- action items
- 1:1
- hard stop
- quick win
- big picture
- check in
- aligned
- parking lot
- ETA
- on the same page
All-hands 70 squares
north starthe main goalheadwindsit's going badlyboots on the groundthe people doing it, on siteempoweryou decide, you're blamedall handsthe whole-company meetingyou're on mutenobody can hear youculturehow we do thingscore valuesour stated principlespsychological safetysafe to speak updisruptshake up an industrydouble downput even more inAI-firsttry AI before hiringleanfewer people, less wastemoonshothuge goal, probably doomedecosystemkeeps customers insidemilestonea checkpoint, soon missedrestructuringreorganizing, often with cutsrightsizingjob cuts, renamedheadcountapproval for one hirebudget freezeno new spendingtrim the fatcut spendingrunwaymonths of cash lefttop linetotal revenueYoYcompared with last yearthe buck stops herefinal responsibility is minelead by exampledo what you askwalk the talkact as you saysense of urgencyas if due todaybuy-ineveryone agreeing to itopticshow it looksC-suitethe top executiveselephant in the roomthe problem nobody mentionsbreak down the silosmake teams sharesinging from the same hymn sheetone message from everyoneraise the bara higher standardwork smarter, not harderfind a quicker wayplay the long gameless now, more laterabove and beyondmore than the job, same paytown hallquestions, screened in advancethrilled to announcenews someone else wroteharnessing the power of AIwe bought an AI toolmission statementone sentence nobody rememberstailwindsluck, claimed as strategyELTthe very top, as lettersEBITDAprofit, before the bad bitsIPOgoing public, maybe next yearcorporate culturethe rules nobody wrote downlunch and learntraining that eats your lunch
Also in this set, listed above:
- synergy
- low-hanging fruit
- move the needle
- pivot
- think outside the box
- game changer
- moving forward
- paradigm shift
- best practice
- deep dive
- give 110%
- we're like a family
- win-win
- KPI
- big picture
- bottom line
- stakeholder
- could have been an email
- roadmap
- open door policy
- on the same page
- at the end of the day
HR and remote 70 squares
subject matter expertthe one everyone askswear many hatsseveral jobs, one salaryreturn to officeordered back incoffee badgingswipe in, coffee, leavequiet vacationingoff, but green onlineremote-firstthe office is optionalright to disconnectignore messages after hourscore hourshours everyone must workmouse jigglera gadget faking activityhot deskingno assigned deskWFHworking from homePTOpaid time offunlimited PTOno fixed days offdial injoin the call remotelyonboardingyour first weeks' setupoffboardingthe leaver's checklistexit interviewHR's goodbye chatnotice periodbetween resigning and leavingprobation periodfirst months on trialculture fitwill you fit inghostedthey stopped replyingghost joban ad, no jobopen to workjob hunting, publiclyother duties as assignedanything else, foreverbackfillreplace who's leavingcompetitive salarypay not statedsalary bandpay range per leveltotal compsalary plus everything elsecounteroffermore money after resigningwellness programstep challenges and appspizza partythanks, paid in pizzahome office stipendhome desk moneyfour-day weekfour days, same paysabbaticalmonths off, job keptquiet quittingthe job as writtenwork-life balancetime for a lifemandatory funcompulsory team socialfast-paced environmenttoo few peopleself-starterlittle training givenrockstareverything, one salarywork hard, play hardlate nights, then drinksteam playernever says noproactivedoes it before asked, unpaidheadhuntera recruiter in your DMs, againhappy hourdrinks, still talking shopbusiness casualno tie, still no shortsbring your whole self to workbring yourself, minus opinionshybrid workoffice some days, home othersflex timepick your hours, within oursburnouttired past what weekends fixsign-on bonuscash for saying yestwo weeks' noticetwo weeks, then goneurgent hiresomeone quit, start Mondaytalent acquisitionhiring, with a bigger titleopen planno walls, no quietIRLin person, legs includedmeeting fatiguetoo many calls in one daywater cooler talkgossip by the drinksERGa staff network, with a channelfloating holidaya day off, you pickfringe benefitsextras on top of the salarycasual Fridayjeans, once a weekHRBPyour team's HR personjob hoppinga new job every yeardigital nomadworking from a beach, allegedly
Also in this set, listed above:
- hit the ground running
- we're like a family
- check in
- you're on mute
- headcount
Marketing 70 squares
A/B testtwo versions, one winnerB2Cselling to peoplebuyer personaa made-up customer, namedCTAthe button to clickevergreen contenta post that never dateseyeballspeople who glancedgreenwashinggreener on the labellead magneta free thing for your emailon-brandin our colors and voiceshare of voicehow loud we are, comparedswagfree tote bagsUSPwhy anyone buys ourswhite paperan ad dressed as researchboilerplatethe same paragraph, againthought leadershipopinions, published as expertisepersonal brandyourself, as a productAI slopAI filler, published anywaymonetizefind a way to chargefor visibilitycc'd so you can't deny ithard deadlinethis one doesn't movedrop-dead datethe real deadline, finallydog and pony showa show, no substanceAI washingAI on the label onlyCSAThow happy they say they aretractionsome people want itmoving targetthe brief changed againclose the looptell everyone how it endedgranularmore detail than anyone needshappy Mondayit's Monday, be cheerfulgrowth hackingcheap tricks for more usersomnichannelevery channel, one messagedouble bookedtwo meetings, one of youhope you're doing wellsmall talk, then the askbenchmarkcompared with someone betteractionableclear enough to doSWOT analysisfour boxes of opinionsproduct-market fitcustomers want it, finallyfirst-mover advantagefirst there, first copiedtable stakesthe bare minimumdisruptora newcomer, says it'll windeckthe slides, version 12unpopular opiniona popular opinion, said bravely
Also in this set, listed above:
- synergy
- move the needle
- pivot
- think outside the box
- game changer
- KPI
- thought leader
- quick win
- elevator pitch
- bells and whistles
- value proposition
- pain point
- top of mind
- call to action
- freemium
- loss leader
- NPS
- ROI
- best-in-class
- go-to-market
- disrupt
- buy-in
- optics
- brainstorm
- big ask
- churn
- war room
- soft deadline
Budget season 70 squares
zero-based budgetingjustify every pen againcapexmoney for things that lastline itemone row in the budgetburn ratehow fast the cash goesuse it or lose itspend it by DecemberP&Lmoney in, money outYTDso far this yearQoQthis quarter against the lastEOYbefore the year runs outCOBwhen the office closesFTEone full-time person, as mathhiring freezeno new people, same workbaselinethe number to beatbottom-upthe people doing it decidetop-downdecided above, announced belowBAUthe normal work, unfundedwindow dressingthe numbers, made prettyboondogglean expensive trip for nothingper diemdaily money for the tripMRRa month of subscriptionsrubber-stampapproved without readingL&Dthe training budget, as lettershuman capitalyou, as an assetoff the shelfbought ready-madein flightstarted, not finishedstreamliningsimpler, sometimes with fewer peoplefurloughsent home, pay pausedquiet hiringyour new extra jobclose of playbefore everyone goes homegap analysiswhere we are, against the slidepuntpush it to next yearSaaSsoftware you rent monthlyout of the boxworks with no setup, supposedlyplug and playno setup needed, they claimturnkeyready to run, says the vendorgentle remindera nudge, not the firstas peras the rule saysSOPthe written way to do itsunk costspent already, so spend morehockey stickflat, then up, on paperthanks in advanceyou agreed, apparently
Also in this set, listed above:
- mission critical
- headwinds
- on the back burner
- KPI
- EOQ
- sticker shock
- ROI
- bottom line
- ballpark figure
- value add
- cash cow
- lean
- headcount
- budget freeze
- trim the fat
- runway
- top line
- YoY
- C-suite
- backfill
- dot the i's and cross the t's
- drill down
- heavy lifting
- big ask
- ARR
- run rate
- tailwinds
- granular
- benchmark
Review season 70 squares
360 feedbackreviews from all sidesPIPimprove by the deadlinemeets expectationsthe job, no moreconstructive feedbackcriticism, with a smilelearning opportunitya mistake, renamedexceeds expectationsthe grade the budget can't affordstretch goala target set to be missedstack rankingeveryone ranked, someone lastbell curvemost of you are averagedevelopment areayour weakness, in HR wordsfeedback sandwichbad news between two complimentsgrowth mindsetbelieve harder, earn the samehigh performerrated well, given more workcareer laddertitles to climb, rungs missingcorporate ladderpromotions, one rung at a timeradical candorblunt, with a frameworkstretch assignmenta bigger job, same paySMART goalsgoals with five rulesvisibilitywork the right people sawmanaging uphandling your own bossskip-levelyour boss's boss, alonemicromanagementevery step watchedunderpromise and overdeliveraim low, look greatlevel upget better, get promoted, maybemanaged outpushed until you leaveoffice politicswho decides, off the recordbusyworkwork that fills the hoursforce multipliermakes the whole team fasterladder uptie it to a bigger goalOKRgoals with numbers attachedbench strengthwho could replace youdeep benchplenty of backups for youlean indo more, visiblylearning curvetime to stop being newresults-drivenlikes results, like everyoneproven track recorddid it before, elsewherethick skincriticism, and plenty of itincentivizepay them to carestay interviewwhat would keep you heregolden handcuffsstock you can't leave behindentrepreneurial spiritno budget, no helpupskillingnew skills, same jobcross-traininglearn their job tooreskillingtraining for a different jobthrown in the deep endno training, good luckquick callfifteen minutes, on papernotedheard you, doing nothingper our conversationnow it's in writingnine to fiveregular hours, in theoryhigh pressure environmentstressful, and they said sowheelhousewhat you're good atAWOLgone, and nobody approved it
Also in this set, listed above:
- deliverables
- learnings
- give 110%
- KPI
- 1:1
- move the goalposts
- individual contributor
- raise the bar
- above and beyond
- wear many hats
- salary band
- total comp
- counteroffer
- self-starter
- team player
- proactive
- productivity theater
- L&D
Reorg town hall 70 squares
let gofired, gentlyreorgnew boss, same workrealignmentteams moved, some cutRIFlayoffs, in paperwork wordsinvoluntary terminationfired, but formallylayoffjob cut, not your faultdownsizingfewer of us, same targetsseverancemoney for leaving quietlygarden leavepaid to stay homegolden handshakea big check to gogolden parachutethe top job's soft landingmade redundantthe role cut, you with itparting waysleft, pushed or notvoluntary separationleave now, with a bonusEAPfree counseling, about the newsdotted linea second boss, unofficiallymatrixed organizationtwo bosses, no answersempire buildinga bigger team for statusknowledge transferteach your replacementtiger teamexperts on one firered tapeforms that slow everythingdrinking from a fire hosetoo much, all at onceradical transparencywe share almost everythingservant leadershipthe boss serves, supposedlycross-functionalseveral teams, one meetingjust to reiterateI'll say it againstay in your lanenot your job, back offM&Abuying or merging companiessome personal newsa departure, told nicelyall the bestthey're gone, warmlyreply alleveryone gets your replyoutplacementjob-hunt help, after the cutquiet firingthe job, made worse
Also in this set, listed above:
- synergy
- moving forward
- headwinds
- empower
- we're like a family
- core values
- psychological safety
- restructuring
- rightsizing
- headcount
- trim the fat
- the buck stops here
- buy-in
- optics
- C-suite
- open door policy
- elephant in the room
- at the end of the day
- break down the silos
- offboarding
- notice period
- backfill
- going forward
- war room
- town hall
- ELT
- hiring freeze
- top-down
- human capital
- streamlining
- furlough
- quiet hiring
- managed out
- golden handcuffs
- upskilling
- cross-training
- reskilling
Strategy offsite 70 squares
ideatethink, with sticky notesmoatwhat rivals can't copyalignmentagreement, on papercore competencywhat we're good at, supposedly800-pound gorillathe giant rivaloperationalizemake it routine workbias for actionact now, think laterthought partnersomeone to think atAI nativebuilt around AIpre-readthe document nobody readworking sessiona meeting, but we worktable thispostpone it, or discuss itgreenfieldstarting from nothingcheersthanks, bye, or bothsoup to nutseverything, start to finishteam buildinggames, compulsory, after hoursbrain dumpeverything I know, unsortedend to endevery step, ours to ownpick up the momentumgo faster, somehowwhiteboardingdrawing boxes, then a photoproductizesell it again and againdisagree and commitlost the vote, do it anywaystraw mana draft to argue withtimeboxa fixed slot, then stopreadoutwhat we found, brieflydouble clickmore detail, pleasebio breakthe restroom, said politelysidebara private chat mid-meetingunicorna billion-dollar startup, on paperonsitethe offsite, at the officead hocset up on the spothustle culturelong hours, called a value
Also in this set, listed above:
- synergy
- low-hanging fruit
- move the needle
- pivot
- think outside the box
- game changer
- paradigm shift
- north star
- big picture
- 30,000-foot view
- parking lot
- disrupt
- AI-first
- moonshot
- buy-in
- heavy lifting
- brainstorm
- fail fast
- harnessing the power of AI
- mission statement
- tailwinds
- actionable
- SWOT analysis
- product-market fit
- first-mover advantage
- table stakes
- disruptor
- deck
- unpopular opinion
- bottom-up
- gap analysis
- sunk cost
- hockey stick
- growth mindset
- force multiplier
- ladder up
- OKR
- cross-functional
Questions about buzzword bingo
How do you play buzzword bingo?
Each player gets a card of office buzzwords and marks one whenever a speaker says it. The first to fill a line wins, and the person talking never knows they were the caller.
What is the meaning of buzzword bingo?
It's bingo with office jargon in place of numbers, played quietly through a meeting or a video call. Only the players are in on it.
Who invented buzzword bingo?
Likely several people, each coming up with it on their own. The name comes from an internal Silicon Graphics tool that Tom Davis and Seth Katz made in early 1993. By 1992, US college students were already playing a bingo on which classmates would talk the most.
Can you play buzzword bingo on Zoom or Teams?
Yes. Start a room, paste its link in the meeting chat, and mark your card in another tab or on your phone. A reload keeps every mark, so a dropped call costs you nothing.
How do you play bingo with words?
Swap the numbers for words, 24 to a card, with a free square in the middle. You mark a word when you hear it. The people talking do the calling, so the game works in any meeting or lecture.
Sources
The 6 sources behind this page
- Wikipedia: Buzzword bingo
- Reclaim: Smart Meetings Trends Report (145+ Stats)
- Flowtrace: State of Meetings Report 2025
- Preply: How Gen Z Is Changing Workplace Language & Affecting Corporate Jargon
- Reckon: Australia's most hated corporate jargon
- ZeroBounce: The Top 10 Most Overused Email Buzzwords - Based on 1 Million+ Real Emails