Dave Doty turns decades of meeting clichés into jargon-generating app
Dave Doty has turned 35 years of collecting corporate buzzwords into Executive Eightball, an app that generates management jargon on demand. The joke is that it helps users sound businesslike while saying little of substance, turning a long-running frustration with meetings into office humour.
Doty says he recorded clichés across more than 10,000 meetings during a 30-year career. The app is available for iPhone and Android, and claims to generate about 270 million sentences in 15 languages; a free version includes adverts and limits, while the full version costs $0.99. Suggested uses include presentation icebreakers and jokes on LinkedIn.
In short
- Dave Doty made an app from decades of collected corporate jargon.
- It claims to generate 270 million sentences in 15 languages.
- The full version costs $0.99.
Explained simply
Corporate jargon is the familiar business language used in workplaces, especially in meetings and presentations. Phrases such as “think outside the box” or “move the needle” can help people discuss plans, but they are often criticised for being vague or overused.
Dave Doty is a former business professional who says he spent much of his career noting phrases heard in meetings. His app, Executive Eightball, draws on that collection to produce strings of management-sounding language for amusement.
The app sits within a broader tradition of jokes about workplace meetings and the phrases used in them. Its appeal depends on the gap between language that sounds professional and whether it communicates a clear, useful idea.
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Originally published by The Register as “Man spends 35 years collecting corporate waffle, turns it into an app”.