Tired of Corporate Code-Switching? A New Game Mocks All of That Annoying Work Babble

Fitting in and moving up at work often means learning a whole new language. And if, like me, you started working in a time when Hotmail was actually hot, you can find yourself feeling pretty incompetent when coworkers start throwing around all of those corporate buzzwords. I’m still not sure if “quiet quitting” is a good thing or not.

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According to the Harvard Business Review, code-switching is one of the biggest issues Black employees face around race in the workplace. Deciding whether or not to adjust can mean the difference between feeling like you’re showing up as your authentic self or being unfairly isolated or “othered.”

But a new game is out to make fun of all of that work-related babble the way only Black folks can. #CultureTags®, the game that captures the essence of culture through acronyms and abbreviations, is rolling out their “Per My Last Email” (PMLE) expansion pack. It’s a hilarious take on all of the lingo and phrases that only make sense in the corporate world. The pack is part of an exclusive partnership with CultureCon, the popular conference for creatives of color. For $12.99, you get 60 cards designed to capture the essence of modern work culture and office speak.

The game is designed for teams and gives players 90 seconds to guess the tag/acronym their teammate describes. You can give as many hints as possible in the time allowed without using any of the words in the phrase. And while drinking isn’t required, it’s almost guaranteed to make the game a lot more fun.

You probably know that if your boss wants you to get something in by EOD (end of day), you may not be able to take that one-hour coffee break at 3:00. But if you’re asked for an idea that’s going to MTN (move the needle), you might be wondering why the hell the project manager couldn’t just say they want you to give them an idea that gets results.

“CultureTags has always been about celebrating our unified experiences that ultimately shape culture,” said founder Eunique Jones Gibson. “This expansion pack is about reclaiming space within corporate culture, infusing it with humor and authenticity, in order to find moments of joy and laughter within corporate experiences and speak that we can all relate to.”