From ‘cut the mustard’ to ‘rule of thumb’ – ten everyday phrases Gen Z youngsters struggle to understand in workplace
YOUNG workers feel left out as they struggle to understand older bosses’ idioms, research found.
Just over four in ten say they are baffled by common phrases such as “flogging a dead horse” and “throw in the towel”.
As a result, employees from Generation Z — aged 26 and under — reckon they have “no say” in the running of the company they work for.
They are more comfortable with modern workplace language like “helicopter thinking”, “take this offline” and “quiet quitting”, according to a study by visualisation platform Rethinkly.
Digital designer Laurence Brand, 22, of Harrow, North West London, said he was mystified by an interview panel all in their 50s.
He said: “They were great, but they kept saying things I’d never really heard before and I had to bluff my way through the interview for the most part.
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“One asked what I’d do if another worker didn’t ‘cut the mustard’.
“I must have looked a bit blank until they told me that it means someone who wasn’t performing well.”
He added: “Luckily, I got the job, but I’m the youngest in the company by at last ten years and sometimes I just don’t have a clue what the rest of them are talking about.”
Andrew Jackson, co-founder of Rethinkly, said: “Most challenges at work stem from a lack of or just bad communication.
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“Communication challenges are directly aligned with morale, productivity and commitment.”
Top ten baffling phrases:
- Flogging a dead horse
- Rule of thumb
- Back to the salt mines
- Take the bull by its horns
- Cut the mustard
- What’s the beef?
- Let sleeping dogs lie
- Burn the midnight oil
- Throw in the towel
- Bite the bullet