An A-Z of Effective Vocabulary, By Martin H. Manser

A boiled-down dictionary of 1,001 words for the business community, this book steers thrusting young execs away from such tempting twaddle as paradigm shift ("some people consider it jargon") and proactive ("do not overuse this word"). It also explains why the verb "to impact" is disliked by the verbally sensitive: "since the use of impact is associated with business and commercial writing, it has the unenviable status of jargon".

Of course, this is precisely why such grating words are used by suits; they confirm the business credentials of the user. An overly prescriptive guide might be futile, though this A to Z could give more detail about words. We're told that "stellar" means "exceptionally good; outstanding", though its derivation from "star" is omitted.