I don't tend to hear much jargon from software developers, but rather from managers or products. I'm not sure why they use this verbosity. This is a list of all the jargon I've heard while working as a software developer for 2 years.
Note: Skip to the Glossary for the complete list.
Examples
Welcome aboard to the new team, we hear you bring a lot to the table! I hope your onboarding went well; HR said they loved bringing you on and I think everyone is on board with your proposal to implement cutting-edge tech at our company. We're seeing large corporate buy-in, and they want all hands on deck! We'd love to get the ball rolling on your robust, game-changing, solution so we can move the needle just a bit further. I hope you're comfortable with championing and being in the driver's seat for this business-critical initiative.
Translation
Welcome to our team, we're excited to use your diverse set of skills! I hope your training went well; I heard HR was excited to hire you. Everyone agrees with your proposal to implement modern technology at the company. Corporate is ready to begin and they want everybody working on it. Is it okay if you lead the project?
Of course, we're not looking to reinvent the wheel. Spinning up the new services will require a lot of cycles as I hear the ticket is 4 story points. Are you sure you have the bandwidth? If not, we can shoot the action items over to another pod so they can solution the deliverables accordingly. We'll slot it into the next sprint. I'll circle back during tomorrow's standup.
Translation
Of course, we don't want to create what already exists. Setting up the new infrastructure will take a while; the current estimate is 4 days! If you don't have the time, I can assign the work to another team so they can complete the tasks accordingly. We'll work on it next week, and I'll follow up during the meeting tomorrow morning.
Unfortunately, we had to part ways with/let go of one of our worst performers as they always went for low-hanging fruit. Moving forward, we're sunsetting or transitioning/pivoting his projects. Don't worry! It's all part of the bigger picture. The ask from product is to pivot all their non-actioned tasks to align with our roadmap. Shoot me a ping later so we can touch base offline. If we can loop in your manager to our one-on-one, that would be stellar!
Translation
We fired a bad employee because he never did any hard work. We're re-prioritizing or de-prioritizing all of his projects, and Product wants to pivot his unfinished tasks to align with this quarter's plan. Send me a message later! We should also invite your manager to our one-on-one tomorrow.
Thank you for jumping/hopping on this lunch-and-learn meeting everyone! We have lots to unpack during today's webinar, so sit tight. Utilizing our core competencies and thinking outside the box, we can streamline user friction/pain points. By holistically observing our learnings from past projects, we can go above and beyond projected guesstimates! To gain further traction, we've set up a marketing strategy to network with thought leaders around the globe.
Translation
Thank you for attending this meeting where no one eats anyone! We have a lot to discuss, so let's get started. Our idea is to improve the user experience using lessons learned from past projects. This way, we'll be able to deliver far more than we planned! To increase popularity, we've set up a marketing strategy to meet with social individuals (I still don't understand the concept of a "thought leader") around the globe.
Where are we so far in actioning this value add? I've had it on my radar for a few sprints now; has it already been triaged?
Translation
What is the status of your work? I haven't forgotten about it because it's quite useful. Has it been prioritized?
Somebody shoot me.
Glossary
| Jargon | Definition |
|---|---|
| actioned | finished/done |
| ball rolling, spin up | start |
| big picture | overall idea/vision |
| bleeding/cutting edge | modern/latest |
| bring to the table | useful skills |
| bringing on | hiring |
| business-critical | important or critical |
| buy in | convince |
| champion | advocate for |
| circle back | follow up with |
| cycles, bandwidth | capacity to work or available time |
| deliverable, ticket, action item | work |
| driver's seat | to lead |
| friction, pain points | bad experiences |
| fundamentals, competencies | ideas, beliefs or values |
| game changing | revolutionary |
| go above and beyond | do more than what was expected |
| going/moving forward | in the future (this phrase is completely useless) |
| guesstimate | estimate |
| holistically | as a whole (but with more syllables) or overall |
| jumping/hopping on | attending a |
| learnings | lessons or "takeaways" |
| loop in | invite to discuss |
| low hanging fruit | easy stuff |
| lunch and learn | a presentation where nobody eats because it's annoying1 |
| move the needle | make progress towards |
| networking | meeting people |
| take this offline | message me after this meeting |
| on my radar | remembering something |
| parting ways with | firing |
| reaching out, pinging | messaging |
| reinvent the wheel | create what already exists |
| roadmap, trajectory | plan |
| robust | stable |
| shoot (me a ping) | send (me a message) |
| solution, action (verb) | work on |
| solutions | products |
| sprint | a week or two |
| squad or pod | team |
| standup | meeting where you usually sit down and talk |
| story points | measurement of time (hours, days, etc.) |
| streamline | make efficient |
| sunsetting | deprecating or discontinuing |
| sync, touch base, align (verb) | talk about |
| the ask is | the request is |
| thinking outside the box | thinking of a different solution (not thinking differently) |
| thought leader | a presenter of their ideas? |
| (top/bad) performer | employee |
| traction | popularity |
| transitioning, pivot | changing (but with more syllables) |
| triage | prioritize |
| unpack | discuss |
| utilize | use |
| value add | useful |
| we need to find a solution | I need to find a solution |
| webinar | presentation |
| where are we2 on this? | what's the status? |
I guess someone decided that companies are ships now and a lot of verbiage is centred around that idea.
| Jargon | Definition |
|---|---|
| all hands on deck | everyone works on |
| get everyone on board | convince |
| onboarding | training |
| welcome aboard | welcome |