So, which ridiculous buzzwords and jargon dominate? And are there differences between the irritating clichés of today and those popularised 20 years ago?

To find out, I gathered around 750 different business titles from various best-of lists, including New York Times business best sellers, books longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award and others.

To be sure, a sample of 750 isn’t comprehensive, and most of the books were published after 1990, which limits the conclusions you can draw, but it’s a large enough sample to reveal some insights. The majority are self-help style books, but the list also includes historical non-fiction and memoirs, economics and management tomes, the odd Ayn Rand novel and a sprinkling of Dr. Seuss.