TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
The following are mostly words that we have invented. In a few cases, others
have made words up, but we like them so much that we wish we had. A few are
obviously in-jokes in our company, but the majority of them are generally
applicable. Try to use them in conversation, as we're trying to proliferate
their use.
copyleft - A general method for making a program free software and requiring
all modified and extended versions of the program to be free software as
well. Related to copyright.
quadriquintecimate - To reduce by four-fifths.
revector - To change priority or direction, particularly in terms of
corporate vision. For example, "our stock is worth pennies, we really need
to revector!"
dissteal - To copy text from an outside source and modify it just enough to
make it unrecognizable, thereby avoiding the charge of plagiarism.
bogon - A sub-atomic particle that causes software bugs.
dark matter song - A song that is so bad that it outweighs the rest of an
artist or band's achievements. For example, "'Shiny, Happy People' is
totally REM's dark matter song."
quorate - The state of being a quorum. For example, "enough people are here,
we are quorate."
blamestorming - A discussion (which may be at the group, community, or
society level) in which members attempt to assign blame for a particular
misdeed.
stempahalt - To stop short while approaching the printer because the
printer's output tray is empty, signifying that your print job has not been
completed.
HTMLize - To convert a document to HTML.
basesoapproxy - A verb, meaning to be screwed by an unforseen scenario near
to release.
ping release - A marginal press release that, while containing little or no
real news, insinuates the continued existence of the company. For example,
"We'll make a ping release regarding the new VP--it's been weeks since we've
been in the press."
completely opposite dialectal difference (CODD) - Applied when a word has
opposite meanings depending upon which country or region it is used in. For
example, in Britain the verb "to table" means to "add to an agenda" while in
North America it means "to remove from consideration indefinitely".
BAB (Buggy at Best) - A measurement of the quality of software worth
aspiring to.
dopplenation - The country which represents the world view most opposed to
your own. For example, "Man, the socialism of Sweden makes them my
dopplenation."
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