A Glossary of Tech Lingo (and Why It’s Important)

Today is day 6 of #blogvent, where I’m writing a blog post every day for the month of December. Shoutout to @cassidoo for the idea!

I missed a day. Oops. And I almost certainly won’t keep up with #blogvent through the weekends this month. But instead of totally giving up (like I really wanted to) I’m just jumping back in :)

A glossary of tech lingo

A few months ago, I started noticing something odd: phrases like “worm can” and “footgun” kept popping up in conversations, but I had absolutely no idea what people meant by them. I’d hear these terms all the time, yet they were so unclear that I was hesitant to use them myself—what if I misused them? I wasn’t alone in this feeling, and that’s when the idea for this project was born.

I’ve started compiling a Tech Glossary—a place to collect these quirky tech phrases and break them down into plain English. It’s a resource I plan to keep adding to over time. If you’ve ever found yourself scratching your head at a weird tech saying, this glossary might just be for you. You can check it out and contribute to it here: Tech Glossary.

Contributing

The glossary is a collaborative project, and I’d love for you to add your own tech terms or phrases. Did you ever hear something and have to Google it to figure out what people were talking about? This is the perfect place to share those confusing (but common) terms!

Why jargon can be a barrier

While some of these phrases might sound silly, the reality is that tech jargon can be pretty exclusive. In the moment, using specialized terms can feel efficient—it’s shorthand that seems to make conversations quicker or more precise. But it also assumes everyone is on the same page with that particular vocabulary, and not everyone is.

I remember feeling overwhelmed by some of this jargon early in my career. It was intimidating! That’s part of why I’m working on this glossary—not only to explain what people actually mean when they say these things, but to also shed light on how certain words can unintentionally leave people out. Technical language can often exclude those who don’t have the same shared knowledge, making it harder for them to fully participate in discussions or feel included.

So, whether you’re new to tech or just want to make sure you’re not unintentionally creating confusion, I hope this glossary helps demystify some of those strange phrases. Let’s work together to make the world of tech a little more inclusive, one term at a time.