Where Annoying Tech Buzzwords Come From

Silicon Valley is a marvelous engine of innovation -- both technical and linguistic. And to use an annoying Silicon Valley buzzword, language invention is the "low-hanging fruit" of the innovation process for any Bay Area startup.

It all starts with a desire to emphasize the totally new nature of something that really isn't all that new. The impulse to coin buzzwords infects ideas and concepts that have nothing to do with actual innovation. And even that would be harmless enough, but the words leak out of the valley, and trickle down into the general culture.

Startups invent these words to impress venture capitalists. The technology press (guilty as charged!) picks up on and starts using them because we, too, want to sound forward-thinking. Then politicians and business people pick up on them from tech and business press reports precisely because of their association with technology, newness and innovation. You’ll even hear some of these contrivances uttered by candidates RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.