40 cringe-worthy office terms your co-workers secretly hate

'Give 110 per cent' is officially the most annoying phrase. Photo / 123RF

New research suggests that seven in 10 workers are guilty of using the most cringe-worthy phrases at the office — with "give 110 per cent" the leading offender.

The study, which was conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with a company called Jive Communications, looked at the communication behaviours of 2000 American workers and compiled a list of the 40 most cringe-worthy office phrases.

"We've all been guilty of using these phrases, whether out of habit or not," senior vice president of Jive Communications John Pope told Fox News.

"While many of these phrases are helpful in conveying a message, I think this study will open a lot of people's eyes.

"It will help many of us to think twice about overusing phrases in the office, as well as the best way to communicate with or motivate those we work with."

The Top 40 most cringe-worthy phrases:

1. Give 110 per cent
2. Think outside the box
3. Hammer it out
4. Heavy lifting
5. Throw them under the bus
6. Don't count your chickens before they've hatched
7. Pushing the envelope
8. Let the cat out of the bag
9. Let's circle back
10. Win-win situation
11. Blue-sky thinking
12. Boil the ocean
13. Synergy
14. Low-hanging fruit
15. Take it to the next level
16. Barking up the wrong tree
17. Going forward
18. Let's ballpark this
19. Run this up the flagpole
20. Back to square one
21. There's no I in team
22. Back to the drawing board
23. Paradigm shift
24. Elephant in the room
25. Raise the bar
26. Drill down
27. Best thing since sliced bread
28. Deep dive
29. Skin in the game
30. Reach out
31. Touch base
32. Play hardball
33. Don't reinvent the wheel
34. Kept in the loop
35. The bottom line
36. Down the road
37. I'll loop you in
38. Hit the nail on the head
39. ASAP
40. Team player