Please, please, please, stop empowering me

I don't know how many of these wretched social things I've got embroiled with, but in a weak moment I must have signed up for something that calls itself Naymz - Empowering Reputable Professionals.

I feel deeply ashamed - and also more than a little irritated, because what they're actually doing is extracting money from weak-minded professionals by that old con of "someone has visited your profile" - but you won't know who it is till you pay us some money. But there are other benefits. For example, I can "enhance my online reputation and Naymz experience" at the same time.

On balance I would prefer to be disreputable and unempowered. And I don't give a tuppenny damn about my online reputation. I refuse to take people who talk such cliche-ridden tripe seriously.

Empowering is one of those puke-making words used by slimy corporate twats in meetings - the sort of people who are always cutting edge, proactive, state of the art and full of shit.

So I was glad to see in my London free paper that someone helpful has made a short list of other expressions that should be kicked into touch. The most odious is probably product evangelist for salesman, though a holistic cradle-to-grave approach is a good runner up.

How I hate the people who come up with this drivel. Perhaps you could cascade that down to your people.