Phrases that don't cut the mustard with Gen Z

Phrases that don’t cut the mustard with Gen Z: Younger workers struggle to understand older colleagues using sayings such as ‘rule of thumb’ and ‘flogging a dead horse’

• Phrases include ‘rule of thumb’ and ‘let sleeping dogs like’
• The Rethinkly study showed how the age-divide was affecting business
• READ MORE: British girl, six, fights for life in hospital after crash in Ibiza

Generation Z workers are struggling to understand what older colleagues mean when they use phrases such as ‘cut the mustard’ and ‘back to the salt mines’.

A survey found that more than four in ten workers aged 18 to 24 complain that they often have difficulty communicating effectively with senior colleagues. 

Among the problems was not understanding key words, phrases or ‘old fashioned jargon’.

As a result, some younger workers feel they have little say in the running of the company they work for and often feel left out. 

Older staff could be forgiven for thinking that it is in their young colleagues’ interests to make an effort to acquaint themselves with the ways of senior staff. 

A survey found that more than four in ten workers aged 18 to 24 complain that they often have difficulty communicating effectively with senior colleagues

The research was carried out by Rethinkly – an online coaching tool. It said its study showed how the age-divide was affecting business (stock image)

Phrases which baffled younger Britons included ‘rule of thumb’ and ‘flogging a dead horse’.

Laurence Brand, 22, of Harrow, north-west London, said his office was ‘full of oldies’.

The digital designer said he was interviewed by three men and a woman, all in their 50s who ‘kept saying things I’d never really heard before’.

He got the job ‘but I’m the youngest in the company by at least ten years and sometimes I just don’t have a clue what the rest of them are talking about’. 

The research was carried out by Rethinkly – an online coaching tool. It said its study showed how the age-divide was affecting business.

A spokesman said: ‘Our study shows Gen Zers are struggling to communicate with their elders in the workplace. 

‘We found 41 per cent say they encounter challenges with speech, with 28 per cent saying the inability to communicate within the workplace has had the largest impact on productivity.’

Andrew Jackson, Rethinkly’s co-founder, said: ‘Communication challenges are directly aligned with morale, productivity and commitment.’

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