I've decided gift cards are the business speak of the Christmas season.

An interesting article about gift cards on Slate.com (and drinking a little too much coffee this morning) lead me to this nifty metaphor. Let me explain...

You see, the article supports my suspicion about gift cards, namely that a lot of people would rather have cash. It describes an economist's research into the gift card resale market on eBay which shows this market is thriving.

In fact, some people prefer cash enough to take a loss on the trade-in. The typical gift card seller on eBay accepts a 15-percent loss on the face value of the card.

I've never sold a gift card on eBay, but I have tried to spend Visa and Amex gift cards.  Besides the hassles at the cash register and miscellaneous fees, trying to spend some leftover $6.97 balance usually leads me to the conclusion, "destroying this thing will be a more expedient method of getting my $6.97-worth of satisfaction."

Judging by reader comments at the end of the article, there are still people out there who think gift cards are great (though I suspect these comments were made by Visa and Amex myrmidons), so I may be in the minority.

Even so, business speak, buzzwords and jargon are like gift cards. Because these obfuscate-ers are so rampant, the marketing writer mistakenly feels more comfortable using them to communicate. But while the writer may feel more comfortable, she's actually creating a barrier between her message and her audience.

Meanwhile the reader--or gift receiver--would really rather just have a simple $50 bill. Cash is like the concrete, concise communication too few companies use in their marketing.

Next time you sit down to do some marketing writing, think about what you would rather have!

And in the meantime, have a very happy holiday!