For people who tell their employees to “give it 110 percent,” now might be a good time to stop, writes Gene Marks for The Washington Post.

A new survey by OnePoll, conducted on behalf of the communications technology provider Jive Communications, has found that this phrase tops the list of the 40 most-cringeworthy office phrases.

The 2,000 workers who were surveyed emphasized that being told to “think outside the box,” “hammer it out,” or do the “heavy lifting” are almost equally as annoying.

“We’ve all been guilty of using these phrases, whether out of habit or not,” said John Pope, the senior vice president of Jive Communications. “Our goal should be to use such jargon sparingly, and when the moment calls for it.”

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The survey found these phrases can harm productivity as 27 percent of workers said they tune out the people using them. However, 72 percent also admitted to saying them.

The Top 10 most-annoying phrases in the workplace include:

• “throw under the bus”
• “don’t count your chickens”
• “pushing the envelope”
• “let the cat out of the bag”
• “let’s circle back”
• “win-win”

Read more about the phrases to avoid using in the office in The Washington Post here.

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