Jargon, buzzwords and (fake) acronyms

Image of scrabble tiles

Every industry has its own jargon. Jargon is terminology understood by people in a certain group - and often meaningless to anyone outside the group.

I think the IT industry is way ahead of other industries when it comes to jargon, buzzwords and weird acronyms. Perhaps that's because IT changes faster than other industries. After all, when last did your accountant need a new term for double-entry accounting?

Are buzzwords contagious?

Are buzzwords contagious, or is IT important enough to be imitated by other functions?

The term “Agile” was made popular by the Agile Manifesto. It is one of IT's most popular, and most abused, buzzwords. I've seen it used in companies that are as agile as the MV Ever Given — the container ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal for almost a week.

But "agile" has now made its way into other areas. I discovered Agile Sales and Agile HR and Agile Finance. And even Agile Supply Chain — although that seems to be a myth in South Africa!

Yesterday I came across the term “LearnOps”. Yes, you guessed it! This is Learning & Development's take on “DevOps”. And here's a secret: most buzzwords are old concepts dressed up in new words. (DevOps is definitely not a new concept, although it is a nice catchy term.)

YAA (Yet Another Acronym)

There is no end to the acronyms that the IT world invents. I need to look up a new one every few days. Recently I learned about SAST, DAST, IASP and RASP. (These are all different ways to test applications for vulnerabilities. You can read about them on our blog.)

Some acronyms are clearly intended not to be understood by other people (like users). Such as these classics, which are well-loved by developers and tech support:

PICNICProblem in Chair, Not in Computer
PEBCAKProblem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard
RTFMRead the "freaking" manual
ID10TSelf explanatory — it is pronounced "eye dee ten tea")

Fake, but fun, acronyms

I found some fun suggestions at Spiceworks.com for new tech acronyms. These aren't real ... but they could be!

AKAArgh! Kaput Application
BBSBizarre Beeping Sounds
COBOLCrazy Old But Operational Language
DHCPDisconnection Headaches Causing Problems
DSLDecidedly Slow Link
FOMOFear of Motherboard Obsolescence
MTBFMy Thing's Breakdown Forthcoming
IRLInfinite Reboot Loop
OMGOutput Matches Garbage
ROIResting on Ignorance
SMHSystem Management Hell
TL;DRToo Lazy; Didn't Reboot
TWAINTechnology Without An Interesting Name

In conclusion...

This all goes to show: "ACRONYM" is really just "Alphabetical Code For Remembering Odd Names You Make Up"!

I hope this brought a smile to your face. If you know of more whacky acronyms, please share them.

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