Buzzwords - though most of us will swear up and down that we hate them, we use them all the time. Sometimes because they're useful, other times just to prove we're in the know. For those of you heading off to the world of finance, or just looking to read up on the latest financial lingo, we've compiled this list of finance buzzwords. If you want to sound like you're in the know, just resort to this list and sprinkle freely throughout your speech.

Aggressive: Too fast. "That schedule is very aggressive."

B-HAG: Big Hairy Audacious Goals

Boiling the Ocean: Taking on an overly ambitious task.

Boomeranging: This term has two meanings. The first refers to college grads who move back in with their parents - because they are unemployed, they're trying to save money, or because they make so little they can't afford to live on their own.

The second refers to job hoppers who eventually return to former employers - usually for more money and a better title. Some return because the job they left for didn't turn out to be as good as they thought it would be; others might return once an old boss leaves. Returning employees are often called "alumni" instead of ex-employees.

Branding Yourself: Your skills are the product you market to employers. Branding yourself means creating a name for yourself in your industry, becoming highly visible. You do this by making yourself memorable/establishing an image. You benchmark your skills and performance against others in the industry using info from resources like professional organizations and trade magazines.

Career Coach: Someone, usually not a headhunter, who offers career advice.

Career Limiting Move or CLM A career move that hinders you. Could be anything from a lateral move, to refusing a promotion, to making a questionable comment in front of your boss.

Career Self-Reliance: Ability to actively manage one's career in a rapidly changing environment.

~ DTB: Drop the bomb - to resign at the worst possible time.

Enneagram Number: A system of ranking personality types, popularized by Michael Goldberg, who wrote "The 9 Ways of Working: How to Use the Enneagram to Discover your Natural Strengths & Work more effectively" and "Getting your Boss's Number." The system helps you develop better working relationships by giving you insight into 9 specific personality types, determining your own type, and seeing things from other peoples' points of view.

Exploding Offer: A job offer with an expiration date. Often the value of the offer (usually the bonus portion) decreases slowly until that date.

Free Agent: Refers to the self-employed, temps, independent contractors, and consultants.

Human Auctions: Essentially, workers sell themselves to the highest bidder. The trend started when a team of 16 software programmers tried to auction themselves on eBay for $3.1 million.

KSA: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. Instead of writing chronological resumes, many seasoned workers are concentrating on these three key terms.

MTBOO: Mean Time Between Other Offers. It is commonly held that MTBOO for software engineers is 9 months.

Passive Job-Seeker: Someone not actively looking for a new job, but who's keeping his eyes open. A candidate that might leave their present situation for a great opportunity - either a jump in position, a better salary, or both.

Project- or assignment-oriented careers: People used to have jobs. Now we spend our careers working on a succession of projects or assignments. We can complete assignments within one company, serve a variety of clients through a single service-oriented company (consulting, advertising, PR) or work as Free Agents.

Twitch Speed: A term used to describe how young people absorb and use information. (refers to how fast your thumbs move when you're playing a video game). Marc Prensky, a VP at Bankers Trust, developed "twitch-speed" training games designed to keep young hires interested during training courses.