// Pack 03 · est. 1994, still relevant, sadly
Buzzword bingo, the way Dilbert intended it
The original office game, with the greatest hits of corporate language: forty-two squares of synergy, leverage and low-hanging fruit. Print a card, listen carefully, and mark every buzzword as it lands.
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Click a square when it happens. Line, then blackout. The meeting continues regardless.
// How it works
Three steps to a better meeting
Pick a pack, get a card
Satirical phrase packs for meetings, video calls, all-hands and more — or paste your own list. Every card is randomized and printable.
Mark squares as they happen
Someone says "let's circle back"? Stamp it. First to a full row, column or diagonal wins. Fill the whole card and you have officially survived the meeting.
Print cards or share a link
Print distinct cards for the room, or copy one link so everyone in the video call plays the exact same card. Brag responsibly.
Running it live
- Same card for everyone: hit "Copy share link" — everyone who opens it gets an identical card, so the first BINGO is fair.
- Different cards: everyone mashes "New card" instead — more chaos, fair enough.
- Appoint a caller: print the call sheet, hand it to the one person who actually reads the agenda.
- Punch up, not down: the squares roast the jargon, never the people. That's the whole etiquette section.
// The packs
Eight flavors of workplace nonsense
Meeting Bingo
The all-purpose survival kit
- "Let's take this offline"
- "Quick win"
- "Time check? (30 seconds in)"
Video Call Bingo
Zoom, Teams, Meet
- "You're on mute"
- "Sorry, I was frozen"
- Doorbell rings
Buzzword Bingo
Classic jargon, since 1994
- Synergy
- "Move the needle"
- "30,000-foot view"
AI Buzzword Bingo
The 2026 expansion pack
- Agentic AI
- "The model hallucinated"
- Vibe coding
All-Hands & HR Bingo
Town halls & culture updates
- "We're like a family here"
- Pizza party to celebrate
- Mandatory fun
Standup & Sprint Bingo
Dev & PM survival grid
- "Works on my machine"
- "Still in review"
- Prod is down
Earnings Call Bingo
Quarterly theater
- Headwinds
- "Cautiously optimistic"
- Adjusted EBITDA
Conference Bingo
Networking events & offsites
- "Thought leader"
- Weak venue Wi-Fi
- "Let's connect on LinkedIn"
The original office game
Buzzword bingo was played in Silicon Valley offices by the early 1990s and entered history in 1994 when Scott Adams gave it to Dilbert, who played it during a meeting and — in the comic, at least — got carried out shouting. The premise was already perfect: corporate language is so formulaic that it can be predicted on a five-by-five grid.
Thirty years later the vocabulary has evolved but the formula holds. This pack keeps the classics that refuse to die: “synergy”, “move the needle”, “boil the ocean”, “30,000-foot view”. If your company has minted its own vocabulary, add it to the Your list pack — every office has at least one phrase that would complete a row on its own.
Scoring variants for veterans
- Classic: first full row, column or diagonal wins.
- Buzzword blackout: the whole card must fall. Bring snacks; this takes a quarterly business review.
- Executive edition: only mark phrases said by someone at least two levels above you. Harder, purer.
- Reverse bingo: first player to hear a sentence with no buzzwords wins. Nobody has ever won reverse bingo.
// FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is buzzword bingo?
A listening game played during meetings: every player gets a card of corporate jargon, and whenever someone actually says a phrase, you mark it. Complete a line and you win. It works because workplace language really is that predictable.
Where did buzzword bingo come from?
Silicon Valley engineers in the early 1990s are usually credited, and the Dilbert comic strip made it famous in 1994. It has outlived every buzzword on the card.
Can I add my CEO’s favorite phrase?
Yes — the Your list pack takes any phrases, one per line. Mixing company-specific jargon with the classics is the standard configuration for maximum squares.
Is jargon really that bad?
Jargon is a perfectly fine shortcut in moderation. It is also, coincidentally, forty-two squares of a bingo card. Both things can be true.