BUZZWORD COMPLIANT DICTIONARY
R

race team: A group of people charged with completing a six-month project in less than two weeks. Result: Six months later another race team is fixing the mess the first one made.
Nominated by Ryan Haberthur

radio silent: To refuse public comment on a controversial issue, especially when the answer could be unflattering. "Since Enron they've been radio silent on offshore tax shelters."
Nominated by Christopher Forsyth

RAK: The unit of measure for Random Acts of Kindness. One random act of kindness equals 1 RAK. “If you commit 30 RAKs a month, the world will be a much better place.”
Nominated by Carl Dreyer

rankism: The discrimination by those in power (Somebodies) to intimidate, belittle and invalidate those lower on the social totem pole (Nobodies). Coined by author Robert W. Fuller.
Nominated by Clive Keen

rat choice: Short for “rational choice,” a theory developed by political scientists that says in the long run political behavior is really the result of the self-interested, goal-oriented behavior of the individual voter. Therefore, politicians will abandon whatever they believe in to become whatever the majority of voters want. Voters on the other hand believe they’ve been relegated to choosing between the best of two rats.
Nominated by David Schwab

read-only values: Values that are unquestionable, unalterable, non-negotiable. “Drafting a corporate mission statement is largely a search for the company's read-only values.”
Nominated by Jeremy Sherman

realignment program: A corporate euphemism for layoffs. "You've been selected for our corporate realignment program."
Nominated by Jennifer Ingraham

recipe malpractice: Reminder that just because you know how to turn on a stove doesn't mean you're a chef. 

recognition: Seen by most companies as a way to boost morale. Viewed by most employees as a poor substitute for a pay raise.
Nominated by Vince Owens

recreational genomics: DNA testing for the fun of it. For $150, ordinary folks can buy a kit (complete with DNA scraper) that will help them trace their ancestry by providing a biologically-based pedigree that shows what extent a person is of European, Native American, African, Asian or Pacific Islander heritage.
Nominated by Mark Worden

reefer: If you hear a couple of truckers talking about reefer and you'll probably conjure up the pungent odor of marijuana. But in today's world, it's likely to be a vital link in the just-in-time economy. Reefer is the shorthand term for refrigerated truck or trailer. "They have a whole fleet of reefers."
Nominated by Tim Blankenhorn

refi: Shorthand for refinancing. A buzz mainstay for mortgage companies, banks and economic analysts, but seldom used by the folks whose homes are actually being refinanced. Examples: refi market, refi industry, refi boom, refi bust, cash-out refi, refi team and refi addiction (for those who refinance their homes every time interest rates drop).

refrigerator art: A business presentation (generally done in PowerPoint) that looks pretty but has little content and even less value. Also refers to the attractive, colorful and expensive bound handouts that accompany such presentations.
Nominated by Rob Stolper

refrigerator Hoovers: A teenage son and his friends who can suck every morsel from your fridge in a single night.
Nominated by John Robertson

refrigerator magnet: A person who can't pass the refrigerator without opening the door and searching for a quick snack.
Nominated by Scott Haddon

regime change: Politically correct term for overthrowing a foreign government. Often accomplished by assassination, war or funneling millions of dollars to the political opposition.

relanguage: Term used by $300-an-hour consultants when $5 words, such as reword, rephrase or rewrite, would work just as well. "I think we can relanguage that to be more effective."

re-purposing: It’s the practice of taking content from one medium (books, newspaper, TV, radio, etc.) and repackaging it to be used in another medium, most likely the Web.

repurposed entree: Leftovers.
Nominated by Sandie Wilson

resonate: Something that resonates generates a prolonged, stimulating sound. Of course, it also could be a ringing in the ears or just a nasty echo. In business, something that resonates is good. If your marketing campaign resonates with the public, you’ll have a major success.

retailtainment: An "in-store" entertainment event used by the retail world to draw a crowd of potential shoppers. "Hey, Faith Hill is playing over in aisle 3!" (No joke, Wal-Mart really did that.)
Nominated by Dave Roberts

reskilling: Techie-speak for retraining. Primarily used by consultants to convince you to pay more for their "retraining" programs.
Nominated by Ron Hatcher

retired in place: Describes someone who is in the home stretch of his or her current job or career and is just coasting until the finish line.
Nominated by Bob Fegan

revenue maximization: The corporate equivalent of finding the coins that slip between the cushions in the sofa.

reverbiagized: To reword a concept or proposal with the hope of changing the minds of the people who didn't like it the first time around. "It's the same ad campaign, but we reverbiagized it."
Nominated by Janet Cutrona

reverse telecommuting: The act of bringing things to work that you should do at home, such as phoning friends, selling stuff on eBay, etc.
Nominated by Fabrice Bergez

RIF: Reduction In Force, the corporate PC term for layoffs. Common usage: "Yeah, Joe's gone, he was RIFfed."
Nominated by Sarah Clatterbuck and Steve Witoshkin

RFID, RFID'd: Radio Frequency Identification. A chip that carries ID info that can be read by a radio frequency scanner at a distance. Already used to let commuters speed through tolls, it’s also expected to make bar codes on consumer products obsolete. Other things to be RFID’d: pets, kids, medical patients, currency and consumers in general.
Nominated by Mark Worden

Rhea: Any beautiful woman, particularly a blonde bombshell, who knows more about sports than the guys she hangs with. The ultimate Rhea is Rhea Hughes, the savvy 610 WIP sports talk radio star in Philadelphia. "Don't go toe-to-toe with her, she’s a Rhea." T-shirt, mug available

rightsizing: A perversion of "downsizing," meant to showcase the wisdom acquired by the "sizer" since his/her last foray into the re-scaling jungle.
Nominated by Rose Smith

ringtone rage: The violent response by cube mates after hearing your annoying cell phone ringtone for the 15th time. Ringtone Rage T-shirt available

ringxiety: Triggered by the ringtone of a cell phone, it's when everyone in a public place or meeting reaches simultaneously for their cell before it begins its second embarrassing ring.

rino: Republican In Name Only. Typically, a Republican who is viewed as being too liberal.

roamed: To be charged roaming fees on your cell phone for calls in areas where you were sure you had coverage. "I got roamed and I was calling from home!"
Nominated by David Lee

robust: A word best used to describe coffee, but is now regularly found in press releases about businesses or software. Frequently combined with scalable, as in "robust and scalable."