A wife has left the internet in stitches after putting her husband through a hilarious “corporate terminology” test—and his responses were pure comedy gold.
Maya Dukes (@themayadukes), from Atlanta, Georgia, a managing director of brand and creative, decided to quiz her husband, Vincent Dukes, an industrial electrician, on common corporate phrases. The video quickly took off, earning 77,200 likes and 1 million views.
“Lawd—I laughed the entire time. He had no clue how to end any of the phrases, which made it even funnier. But the moment he said ‘loooooading dock’ with full confidence might’ve been the final hilarious straw,” Dukes told Newsweek.
The quiz kicked off with an easy warm-up. Maya said, “keep me in the…” and Vincent correctly finished with “loop.”
@themayadukes/@themayadukes
Next up: “we are building the plane…” Vincent, confused, replied, “for you,” prompting giggles from Maya.
The full phrase? “Build the plane while flying it”—a classic corporate metaphor for “we’re launching as we go.” Maya added that in real life, it translates to “is chaos in a suit.”
Then came: “Let’s take this conversation…” Vincent confidently offered “to the next level,” which could work in another setting—but not quite right for a meeting. He then cheekily suggested, “to the bedroom,” defending it by asking how many people had married their secretaries.
The actual phrase was “take it offline,” meaning “let’s discuss this later,” or, as Maya put it, “You’re embarrassing me—not in this meeting, please.”
When Maya prompted “Let’s not boil…” Vincent replied: “the crab.” He paused, then guessed again: “rice,” leaving Maya doubled over in laughter.
Trying to explain, Maya gave an example of people over-complicating a project in a meeting, but Vincent was still lost. “The work?” he guessed.
The real phrase: “boil the ocean”—a warning against trying to do everything at once.
Next: “We need more blue sky.” Vincent, wearing an Air Force top, replied, “in the air force?” Close, but not quite. The full phrase is “blue sky thinking,” which refers to creative, unconstrained brainstorming. As Maya explained, “Say anything. No idea is too wild. Even if it involves drones or teleportation.”
“Let’s hit the ground…” finally earned Vincent another point with “running.” The phrase means to get straight to work and make an immediate impact.
When asked “What is KPI?” Vincent said he knew what it meant but couldn’t recall the words. Maya explained it stands for “key performance indicator”—essentially a goal tracked on a color-coded dashboard.
The next phrase was “let’s pressure…” Vincent quickly said “cook,” prompting more laughter from Maya. “We’re not in the kitchen,” she reminded him. She tried to explain: “We wanna pressure. If we have an idea and we’re not sure if it’s gonna work, we need to pressure…”
Vincent guessed “management,” but the right term was “test”—as in “stress test” an idea. Maya adde:, “Let’s poke holes in this until it either breaks… or becomes bulletproof.”
Then came a win: “We are undergoing a digital…” and Vincent nailed it with “transformation.”
“This is a time to shift the…” had Vincent guessing “direction” and “narrative”—both reasonable, but Maya revealed the intended word: “paradigm.” Though, she noted, his second guess worked as a synonym.
“We need to open the…” led to Vincent shouting “oven,” then guessing “door.” The actual phrase? “Open the aperture”—which means to think bigger. Or, as Maya translated: “You’re being basic. Think bigger.”
Finally, Maya asked: “Let’s park this in the…” and Vincent proudly said “loading dock.”
The correct expression is “put it in the parking lot,” meaning “not right now” or, more realistically, “this is never coming up again.”
Reflecting on their differing career paths, Maya explained: “I’ve spent my entire career in the creative and marketing space, leading creative teams across retail, entertainment, fintech, and now travel—all in corporate settings. My husband, Vincent, is the complete opposite. He’s an Air Force vet who’s spent his life using his skills in real, hands-on ways—working mostly in commercial construction and places that run on grit, precision, and problem-solving. He’s always been the guy who figures it out and gets it done, no fluff.”
While Maya is navigating stakeholder meetings and strategy decks, Vincent is wiring systems in buildings that keep things running. He’s always curious about her work, and she values his direct, thoughtful take on things. Maya said he “sees things differently,” and it sharpens her own thinking.
“I try to avoid jargon as much as possible—it honestly bugs me. That said, I have used ‘let’s take it offline’ when I need to move a conversation forward. It’s one of the few that actually serves a purpose without being too performative,” she added.
TikTokers were quick to weigh in with their own reactions.
“The privilege of not knowing these. Iconic,” one user wrote, while another joked: “I’m so jealous of how healthy his mind must be lol.”
“The way I yelled OUTSIDE instead of OFFLINE!! Cuz some days that’s where the conversation needs to go,” said Sarah.
“I’m absolutely using ‘let’s not boil the crab’ in a meeting tomorrow,” another viewer laughed.
“He was just hungry the whole time. Boil the crab, rice, pressure cook… he’s giving a recipe,” added Nisha.
Reflecting on the viral response, Maya said: “It’s been amazing to watch so many people connect with the video. Everyone was rooting for my husband—and so many corporate folks admitted they’d never heard some of the phrases, while others joked that they passed the test a little too easily.
“The best part has been watching people from completely different industries, backgrounds, and experiences find a common laugh. It hit a very human truth: we all roll our eyes at corporate jargon… but somehow still use it. And we are always all in this (navigating life and corporate) together.”
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