'Guru' one of the top business buzzwords in the world

Global Language Monitor's 'Business Buzzwords of the Year' rankings are based upon actual word usage throughout the English-speaking world

Indian-origin term 'Guru' has retained its place among the top-50 business buzzwords globally, while the term 'content' topped the list for the second consecutive year, according to a latest survey.

Guru, a Sanskrit-origin term which means teacher or master, has moved down to 15th position in 2014 from 6th slot a year ago on the latest annual list for top business buzzwords compiled by Global Language Monitor (GLM).

After 'content', which topped the chart for 2014, the most popular used words by the business world were -- 'net-net', 'big data', 'at-the-end-of-the-day' and 'social media'.

Other words named in the chart were: 'offline' (6th), 'face time' (7th), 'ping' (8th), 'rock-and-a-hard-place' (9th), 'win-win' (10th).

GLM's 'Business Buzzwords of the Year' rankings are based upon actual word usage throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.83 billion people.

"It is often noted that the world of business includes its own specialised vocabulary, and this can certainly be found in the English language, the business language of the planet," GLM President and Chief Word Analyst Paul JJ Payack said.

"The top 50 Global Business Buzzwords of 2014 represent some six continents, which continues to confirm the ever-expanding nature of the English language," Payack added.

'As if it was' (11th), 'utilise' (12th), 'literally' (13th), 'any noun used as a verb' (14th) were also on the business buzzword list.

Guru was followed by 're-purpose', 'robust', 'value-add', 'transparency' and 'seamless', as among the top 20 business buzzwords for 2014.

To qualify for these lists, the words, names, and phrases must be found globally, have a minimum of 25,000 citations.