“Let’s dogfood this before the bug bash.”
Or maybe: “The feature isn’t gaining traction — we might need to pivot.”

If you’ve ever heard phrases like that and wondered if you know English — you’re not alone.

Tech jargon is part of the culture. It’s not something you usually learn in school, but something you pick up over time as you work, adapt to your company’s way of speaking, and grow more comfortable in the environment.

I put together this glossary to walk you through some of the most common terms — the kind you’ll hear in meetings, Slack threads, and docs. Whether you’re starting your first job in tech, joining a remote team, or working in English as a second language, I hope this gives you helpful context.

💬 Communication & Workflows

Circling Back
A polite way to revisit a topic — used to follow up, remind, or bring it up again.

“Just circling back on that spec we discussed.” → “Just following up.”
“Circling back now that we have more data.” → “Revisiting now that we know more.”
“Let me finish this, and I’ll circle back later today.” → “I’ll return to this later.”

Touch Base
A casual way to say "connect briefly."

“Can we touch base tomorrow?” → “Have a quick chat?”

Bandwidth
Refers to someone’s time or capacity to take on work.

“I don’t have bandwidth right now.” → “I’m too busy.”

Low-Hanging Fruit
Simple tasks that bring quick wins.

“Let’s tackle the low-hanging fruit first.” → “Let’s start with the easiest wins.”

Doubling Down
Committing more strongly to an idea or effort.

“We’re doubling down on performance.” → “We’re putting more effort into this area.”

Pushing Back
Means delaying or rescheduling something for later — not earlier.

“We’re pushing back the deadline to next Friday.” → “Delaying the deadline.”
“Can we push the meeting back an hour?” → “Start the meeting later.”
“They pushed back the release to Q3.” → “Postponed to Q3.”

Why it’s confusing: For many ESL speakers, the word “back” suggests moving something earlier — like going back in time. But in this context, it actually means shifting something further into the future. It’s a counterintuitive phrase until you get used to how it’s used at work.

🧪 Product & QA

Dogfooding
Using your own product internally before releasing it to users.

“We dogfooded the new dashboard and found key issues.”
Why it matters: It helps catch problems early and shows confidence in your product.

Bug Bash
A planned team session where everyone tries to find bugs.

“The bug bash helped uncover edge cases before launch.”
Why it matters: It’s a fast, team-wide way to catch problems with more eyes on the product.

Bug Dash
A focused effort to fix as many bugs as possible in a short time.

“We’re doing a bug dash to clean up the backlog.”

📈 Growth, Strategy & Metrics

Churn
When users stop using your product or cancel a subscription.

“Our churn rate is 7%.” → 7 out of 100 users left this month.
“We saw churn increase after the pricing change.” → “More users left.”

Why it matters: It’s a sign that users didn’t find enough value to stay. You’ll hear it often in conversations about retention, onboarding, or pricing.

RRM (Rolling Retention Metric)
Tracks what percent of users return after a set number of days (e.g. 7-day RRM).

“Our 7-day RRM dropped — let’s look into why users disengage.”

North Star Metric
The single most important number that reflects product success.

“Weekly active users is our north star metric.”

Customer Journey
The complete experience a user has — from signup to loyal customer (or churn).

“We’re mapping the customer journey to improve onboarding.”

Common Workplace Shorthand

These abbreviations are everywhere — in Slack threads, PR reviews (oops, just used one myself — PR = Pull Request 😅), email subjects, and Jira comments. Here’s what they mean:

Hard Stop

A firm end time for a meeting or task.
💬 “I have a hard stop at 3PM.” → “I need to leave at 3, no matter what.”

ASAP / EOD / COB

Used to signal urgency or deadlines.
• ASAP = As Soon As Possible
• EOD = End of Day
• COB = Close of Business (same as EOD, just a bit more formal)
💬 “Please review the PR ASAP.”
💬 “Can you finish this by EOD?”

OOO
Out of Office — often used in auto-replies or status updates.
💬 “OOO next week, back on Monday!”
💬 “Just a heads-up, I’ll be OOO this afternoon.”

TL;DR

Too long; didn’t read — a summary, usually at the top (or bottom!) of a long message.
💬 “TL;DR: We’re moving forward with option B.”

FYI

For your information — no action needed, just awareness.
💬 “FYI: The deploy is scheduled for tomorrow morning.”

ETA

Estimated time of arrival — when something is expected to be done or delivered.
💬 “What’s the ETA on the bug fix?”

NIT

Short for “nitpick.”
Used in code reviews to point out something small — not a blocker.
💬 “NIT: Consider renaming this variable for clarity.”
Translation: You don’t have to change it… but I noticed it.

🙏 Final Thoughts

Jargon is something you grow into. Don’t feel pressured to memorize everything — this list is just a head start. Save it, refer back to it, and most of all, don’t be afraid to ask when something doesn’t make sense.

Beyond these common terms, acronyms are everywhere. English speakers love to shorten things, and the corporate world takes it to the next level. At my current job, for example, CPT stands for Client, Project, and Tasks. You’ll encounter acronyms for tools, teams, roles — almost everything.

If it ever feels like people are speaking a foreign language, you’re not alone. Especially when landing your first job in tech or working remotely in English, it can feel a bit overwhelming at first. But with a little patience and curiosity, you’ll be fluent in “corporate” in no time!

What about you?
Is there a term you keep hearing that isn’t listed here? Drop it in the comments — I’d love to keep learning, too.

What Do You Mean by "Dogfooding"? And Other Questions You Were Afraid to Ask