Circle Back
SUR-kul bakverb
What it means
A tactical postponement technique used in meetings to delay a decision until the underlying problem either resolves itself or destroys the company.
What it actually means
I am ignoring this until next quarter.
How it is used in a sentence
"Let's circle back on the budget projections after everyone has forgotten we discussed them."
Why this one is here
Nobody sets out to say circle back. It arrives the first time you need to end a conversation without refusing anything, and it works so reliably that you keep it. The phrase has outlived every management theory that produced it because it does one job perfectly: it sounds like a plan while committing to nothing.
Filed under
Business Bafflegab — Language engineered so that nothing is ever anyone’s fault and no decision is ever final.
Euphemism — The phrase hides something specific. We decode it.
Related entries
Touch Base
Business Bafflegabtuch baysverbBafflegab
To initiate contact with a colleague for no stated purpose, in the hope that proximity will be mistaken for productivity.
Real meaningI need to look busy and you were the nearest name.
Take This Offline
Business Bafflegabtayk this OF-lahynphraseEuphemism
To move a disagreement out of the meeting and into a private conversation where witnesses cannot be called.
Real meaningYou are embarrassing me in front of people who outrank you.