I find it's really helpful to be flexible with your terminology. The power of different phrases is enormous-it can make a difference between taking 5+ minutes t

I find it's really helpful to be flexible with your terminology. The power of different phrases is enormous-it can make a difference between taking 5+ minutes to explain a concept to someone so that they superficially understand it, vs. having them instantly get it at a deep level. For example-I work on Machine Learning, and that's the phrase I'll use with the HN crowd. With the general public, I'll use "Big Data". With Statisticians, I'll use "Predictive Analytics". One problem with the phrase "programmer" is that it's just too general. It is impossible to get a sense of what value you create when you tell someone you're a "programmer", because the term is so broad. "Web Developer", "Statistics Automation Guru", "Ruby on Rails Consultant", "Data Scientist", "SEO", "Marketing Automation Expert"...all these are really useful terms simply because people instantly grok them. And when people have a clear sense of what you do, it opens up a world of career opportunities.