A millennial mocked corporate workers for using military jargon in the office: 'We're not in the trenches; we're in Excel'
- A writer hilariously railed against employees using military jargon in the office.
- He took particular issue with phrases such as "mission-critical" and "boots on the ground."
Jack Lawler, the TikToker behind the account @workretiredie, recently went viral for hilariously imploring office workers to stop using military jargon to describe their day-to-day slog.
"Things are not mission-critical — because we're not invading another country," Lawler, 30, said in a video Wednesday with 3.6 million views. "Chill out a little. We're not in the trenches; we're in Excel."
Lawler also took issue with the common phrase "boots on the ground," which in corporate speak means to be physically present to complete a task.
"We're not invading Iwo Jima," he said. "We're going to a sales conference in fuckin' Omaha — you're going to get Hilton points and miles."
Many viewers were delighted by the PSA and came forward with their own experiences.
"We have a 'war room' that's for REVIEWING DOCUMENTS," one commenter wrote.
"Our printer went down in the office and my boss yelled 'we're basically dead in the water!'" another said. "Ma'am, please."
"My job says 'please elevate concerns up your chain of command'… ok sergeant," yet another wrote.
A fourth commenter added: "I definitely said 'mission critical' today in a meeting and I deserve this call out."
Lawler, who's the head of newsletter operations at the production company Almost Friday Media, told Business Insider he created the account @workretiredie in 2017 as an outlet for his "frustrations with office culture." It now counts 200,000 followers across Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
That said, the video was not intended to make fun of "veterans entering the workforce who are still using terms from their military days," Lawler said, adding: "It's meant to poke fun at people who think a project tracker is as important as a military operation."
Lawler isn't the first person to go viral for spoofing corporate speak. In September, a Gen Z tech worker, Hannah Shirley, went viral on TikTok for encouraging people to communicate more authentically at work. She said how she talked at work contributed to her feeling like her job was a "full-time acting gig."