I think I’ve just had too many discussions where someone’s complaining they aren’t given time to fix tech debt, and they think by calling it that it automatical

I think I’ve just had too many discussions where someone’s complaining they aren’t given time to fix tech debt, and they think by calling it that it automatically qualifies for needing to be done. And the person that they’re asking time from just hears someone being a perfectionist. At the heart of it, it’s miscommunication. So I agree that the term is here to stay, but there’s better ways to communicate it to product/management. Like your example, making it clear to product what shortcuts were taken and how it will need time to fully implement. Code improvement vs tech debt doesn’t really make a difference, it’s just getting that conversation convincing