Technical debt is a terrible metaphor because it is readily misunderstood by management. Debt is a great thing (financial debt). You can get free things now an

Technical debt is a terrible metaphor because it is readily misunderstood by management. Debt is a great thing (financial debt). You can get free things now and pay for them later. Or never pay because you're changing company anyway. (That's what MBA managers understand) Also, debt in software is inevitable. Every developer that comes in say everything is debt, and the next one will invariably says the same thing about his predecessor. It's as if everything ever done is debt, might as well ignore these guys. (That's what managers interacting with developers quickly come to understand)