5 ms·

Ask HN: What buzzwords or expressions do you dislike the most?

11 points by siruncledrew 8y ago

I always hear people say “I’ll talk to you offline” during meetings, but logically it never made sense to me.

fifnir 8y ago
"With Biological Ingredients" "Organic Cotton"
knopkop_ 8y ago
'quick question'
Bretlei 8y ago
DC when used to mean Data Centre and Domain Controller. IP when used to mean Intellectual Property and Internet Protocol. There are more examples of this that I can't think of right now. Acronyms should be defined the first time you use them and should never change meaning for the rest of the conversation.
hatsubai 8y ago
"Disruptive" - It's a term that used to describe an annoying school child, but now all of the startup junkies use it to push their grandiose ideas that they claim will upend major industries.
- verganileonardo 8y ago
  Schumpeter used this term in 1942 to describe startups destroying incumbents. "In Schumpeter's vision of capitalism, innovative entry by entrepreneurs was the disruptive force that sustained economic growth, even as it destroyed the value of established companies and laborers that enjoyed some degree of monopoly power." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction
orcs 8y ago
'hack' really annoys me when used like this: 'life hack'. In this context: 'anyone got any good life hacks?'. Your asking to tips or suggestions not fucking hacks.
- matt_the_bass 8y ago
  I’d go even further and include “hacker” and “hacking” No, a hacker hacking does not necessarily mean a bad guy doing bad stuff with computers.
i6mi6 8y ago
Agile
matt_the_bass 8y ago
I know I’ll probably get a lot of flack for this but: “start up”. No, just because I have a small tech business does not mean I have a start up. We actually make things that people buy, develop cool (in my opinion) technology, have interesting unique customers AND are commercially profitable.
fosco 8y ago
not IT related but... Artisan Hand Crafted * to table etc any adjective food More on topic is web bullshit generator [0]. When you need a good verb adjective and noun all in one. [0] https://www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html https://www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html
settings11 8y ago
Sometimes private cloud machine learning becomes a buzzword; Well, even DevOps has become one...
bjourne 8y ago
Human "resources." Comparing people to metal ore that you can mine out of the ground is dumb.
BugsJustFindMe 8y ago
"ask" as a noun.
sgillen 8y ago
This one is a little silly, but I don't like when people use "exponentially" to mean just really big. Like when someone says version 2.0 is exponentially better than version 1.0. I realize I'm being pedantic here but for some reason I still don't like it!
vikaskyadav 8y ago
Hacks. Cutting-edge. Bleeding AI. Cognitive ML. Deep Learning. Decentralized. Blockchain. Crypto. Some guy with name "X" expressing personal opinions as "Xology" :p
IlyaStam 8y ago
"optics". when used instead of "perception". As in "Blah Blah created bad optics for our department". "head count" when used by mid-level managers, who want to look cool, instead of word "position" or "open position". Annoys me when I hear: "We have 3 open head-counts" - we are not cattle, we are people.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
farseer 8y ago
"Machine Learning" and "AI": when used by people clueless of basic logic or stats "Synergy": Management uses this word a lot, often to appear not clueless (or helpless) of how business processes work "Techie": Too broad a term to describe anyone. From a rich kid with lots of gadgets to a world renowned authority on a subject. "20 years of experience between us" or "Combined 20 years of experience in xx Technology": When 10 kids are running a startup after working two years part time during college.
ecesena 8y ago
Decentralized, especially when there’s a single company behind it.
mothsonasloth 8y ago
CI/CD - most companies say they do it, but in reality they don't Cloud - hate this world even after all these years Senior Developer - a rank that can be anything from 3 years to 10 years experience This is one of my favourite clips from Silicon Valley TV show, it is very relevant to this topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-GVd_HLlps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-GVd_HLlps
tamersalama 8y ago
"Productivity" as the only measure of success or team performance. I'm wondering if other industries are as concerned with productivity. "Resources" to talk about people/skills/talent "Cloud" when used by management "Cyber security" (Yeh) "Steal the IP" (it gained traction at one point)
framebit 8y ago
- Cognitive - Solutioning - Learning as a noun, as in "these are some good learnings" - Most things mentioned in Weird Al's brilliant lampoon of Judy Blue Eyes using corporate-speak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyV_UG60dD4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyV_UG60dD4
kasey_junk 8y ago
Realtime for anything that isn’t...
25302throwaway 8y ago
Bullish - i'm feeling bullish Personas - we have to recreate product material for the different personas (before it was for departments, postions, industry, etc..)
- verganileonardo 8y ago
  Personas go beyond the things you mentioned, they should also consider motivations, objections, fears, etc.
meekins 8y ago
Cloud native

11 points by siruncledrew 8y ago

I always hear people say “I’ll talk to you offline” during meetings, but logically it never made sense to me.

fifnir 8y ago

"With Biological Ingredients" "Organic Cotton"

knopkop_ 8y ago

'quick question'

Bretlei 8y ago

DC when used to mean Data Centre and Domain Controller. IP when used to mean Intellectual Property and Internet Protocol. There are more examples of this that I can't think of right now. Acronyms should be defined the first time you use them and should never change meaning for the rest of the conversation.

hatsubai 8y ago

"Disruptive" - It's a term that used to describe an annoying school child, but now all of the startup junkies use it to push their grandiose ideas that they claim will upend major industries.

verganileonardo 8y ago
Schumpeter used this term in 1942 to describe startups destroying incumbents. "In Schumpeter's vision of capitalism, innovative entry by entrepreneurs was the disruptive force that sustained economic growth, even as it destroyed the value of established companies and laborers that enjoyed some degree of monopoly power." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction

orcs 8y ago

'hack' really annoys me when used like this: 'life hack'. In this context: 'anyone got any good life hacks?'. Your asking to tips or suggestions not fucking hacks.

matt_the_bass 8y ago
I’d go even further and include “hacker” and “hacking” No, a hacker hacking does not necessarily mean a bad guy doing bad stuff with computers.

i6mi6 8y ago

Agile

matt_the_bass 8y ago

I know I’ll probably get a lot of flack for this but: “start up”. No, just because I have a small tech business does not mean I have a start up. We actually make things that people buy, develop cool (in my opinion) technology, have interesting unique customers AND are commercially profitable.

fosco 8y ago

not IT related but... Artisan Hand Crafted * to table etc any adjective food More on topic is web bullshit generator [0]. When you need a good verb adjective and noun all in one. [0] https://www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html https://www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html

settings11 8y ago

Sometimes private cloud machine learning becomes a buzzword; Well, even DevOps has become one...

bjourne 8y ago

Human "resources." Comparing people to metal ore that you can mine out of the ground is dumb.

BugsJustFindMe 8y ago

"ask" as a noun.

sgillen 8y ago

This one is a little silly, but I don't like when people use "exponentially" to mean just really big. Like when someone says version 2.0 is exponentially better than version 1.0. I realize I'm being pedantic here but for some reason I still don't like it!

vikaskyadav 8y ago

Hacks. Cutting-edge. Bleeding AI. Cognitive ML. Deep Learning. Decentralized. Blockchain. Crypto. Some guy with name "X" expressing personal opinions as "Xology" :p

IlyaStam 8y ago

"optics". when used instead of "perception". As in "Blah Blah created bad optics for our department". "head count" when used by mid-level managers, who want to look cool, instead of word "position" or "open position". Annoys me when I hear: "We have 3 open head-counts" - we are not cattle, we are people.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

farseer 8y ago

"Machine Learning" and "AI": when used by people clueless of basic logic or stats "Synergy": Management uses this word a lot, often to appear not clueless (or helpless) of how business processes work "Techie": Too broad a term to describe anyone. From a rich kid with lots of gadgets to a world renowned authority on a subject. "20 years of experience between us" or "Combined 20 years of experience in xx Technology": When 10 kids are running a startup after working two years part time during college.

ecesena 8y ago

Decentralized, especially when there’s a single company behind it.

mothsonasloth 8y ago

CI/CD - most companies say they do it, but in reality they don't Cloud - hate this world even after all these years Senior Developer - a rank that can be anything from 3 years to 10 years experience This is one of my favourite clips from Silicon Valley TV show, it is very relevant to this topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-GVd_HLlps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-GVd_HLlps

tamersalama 8y ago

"Productivity" as the only measure of success or team performance. I'm wondering if other industries are as concerned with productivity. "Resources" to talk about people/skills/talent "Cloud" when used by management "Cyber security" (Yeh) "Steal the IP" (it gained traction at one point)

framebit 8y ago

- Cognitive - Solutioning - Learning as a noun, as in "these are some good learnings" - Most things mentioned in Weird Al's brilliant lampoon of Judy Blue Eyes using corporate-speak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyV_UG60dD4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyV_UG60dD4

kasey_junk 8y ago

Realtime for anything that isn’t...

25302throwaway 8y ago

Bullish - i'm feeling bullish Personas - we have to recreate product material for the different personas (before it was for departments, postions, industry, etc..)

verganileonardo 8y ago
Personas go beyond the things you mentioned, they should also consider motivations, objections, fears, etc.

meekins 8y ago

Cloud native