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Yet many bids are riddled with just such jargon, linguistic fashion accessories and grammatical non-sensibilities. These expose a company’s self-centricity and lack of originality. In particularly acute instances, they foster the notion that the vendor/seller/supplier is unlikely to contribute any new thinking, or any ideas of substantial value, to the client or customer organisation. Indeed, parroting the latest industry or market-speak connote a certain “follower” mentality, rather than the contemporary air the writer usually desires, in fact, to convey.

They also highlight, rather than disguise, any lack of substance in a proposal. The sad fact is, sometimes this type of writing is employed intentionally, in place of comprehensive, specific, factual information. There’s an inability to provide the actual detail, or degree of detail, sought by the RFP, or an unwillingness to engage in the research and thinking required to contextualise this information. Deadbeat Words is, as Hemingway would so delicately have put it, the ultimate “shit detector” for bid managers, writers and editors. Its 101 words and terms are must-avoids for any bidding organisation wishing to preserve its credibility and convey an ability to offer up originality – both in its submissions and in the offerings these articulate.