Communication Glossary

Browse 66 communication terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

66 Communication Terms

AFAIK
"As Far As I Know" — a qualifier used in technical discussions, code reviews, and chat to signal that the speaker believes something to be true but...
ASAP
Short for 'as soon as possible,' used to signal urgency without specifying an exact deadline. In tech workplaces, it often creates ambiguity because people...
Async Communication
Communication that does not require everyone to respond at the same time, such as messages, docs, tickets, or recorded updates. In remote-friendly culture,...
Async Standup
A standup process done through written updates rather than a live meeting, often in chat or a dedicated tool. Async standups are common in distributed teams...
Back Channel
A private or side communication path used alongside official meetings, threads, or decisions. In workplace culture, back channels can speed alignment, but they...
Blanket Statement
A broad claim that applies the same conclusion to many cases without enough nuance, distinction, or evidence. In technical arguments, blanket statements are...
Blocker
Blocker is a term in project management and software development describing any obstacle that prevents a team member from making progress on their work. In...
Brain Dump
A rapid transfer of all relevant thoughts, context, observations, or undocumented knowledge from one person into notes, chat, or conversation, usually without...
Captain Obvious
A sarcastic label for someone stating something tediously obvious as if it were an insight. In team conversations, it is usually playful but can turn sharp...
Case Study
A detailed account of a specific project, customer, event, or problem used to illustrate lessons, evidence, or product value. In tech culture case studies are...
Change Log
A record of changes made over time to a product, codebase, document, or system. In culture and practice, change logs are part documentation, part trust signal,...
Changelog Drama
Conflict or backlash triggered by how product or project updates are described in release notes or changelogs.
Channel
A typed conduit through which goroutines or concurrent processes can send and receive values, providing synchronized communication without explicit locks....
Code Demo
A demonstration of code, a coding workflow, or a technical feature, often shown live or with prepared examples. In engineering culture code demos are used for...
Code Story
The narrative explanation of how some code came to be, why it changed, or what tradeoffs shaped it. In culture, code stories matter because understanding...
Comment Culture
The shared tone and habits a team has around comments in code reviews, docs, and discussions. Healthy comment culture makes feedback direct but useful, while...
Component Communication
The ways components exchange data, events, and control signals in a system, such as props, callbacks, shared state, context, events, or message buses. Good...
Conversation Starter
A topic, question, or prompt used to begin a conversation more easily. In workplace and community settings, good conversation starters reduce awkwardness and...
Data Visualization
The visual presentation of data through charts, graphs, maps, and other forms intended to make patterns easier to understand. In culture, good data...
Deep Dive
A detailed exploration of a topic, system, incident, or decision rather than a quick overview. In tech culture a deep dive can be invaluable when it surfaces...
Diagram Culture
A culture in which diagrams are a primary way people explain systems, plan work, and align across teams. Diagram culture can improve shared understanding,...
Digital Communication
Communication that happens through digital channels such as email, chat, forums, video calls, and collaborative docs. In workplace culture digital...
Discussion Thread
A connected sequence of messages, replies, or comments centered on one topic. In modern work culture discussion threads are where context either gets preserved...
DM
Short for direct message, meaning a private one-to-one or small-group message sent outside a public thread or channel. In work chat it often implies moving a...
Elevator Pitch Culture
A culture that strongly values being able to explain products, ideas, and roles in a short, polished, high-impact way. This can sharpen clarity, but it can...
Email Culture
The norms a team or organization has around how email is used, how fast replies are expected, and what belongs in inboxes versus other channels. Email culture...
Emoji
A small digital symbol used to convey emotion, tone, objects, or reactions in messages and online communication. In tech culture emoji carry real social weight...
Empathy
The ability to understand and care about another person's perspective, constraints, or feelings. In product and workplace culture empathy matters both for...
Example Driven
Describing an approach that relies on concrete examples to teach, explain, or align rather than staying abstract. In technical culture example-driven...
Face-to-Face
Describing communication that happens in person with people physically present together rather than through digital channels. In team culture face-to-face...
Feature Announcement
A public or internal announcement explaining a new feature, why it matters, and how to use or access it. In product culture feature announcements shape...
Feature Demo
A demonstration showing how a feature works, what it does, and why it matters. In product culture feature demos are powerful because they make progress...
Feedback
Information given in response to work, behavior, products, or ideas with the goal of helping improvement, alignment, or learning. In healthy culture, feedback...
Flash Talk
A very short talk, usually just a few minutes long, intended to share one idea, demo, lesson, or project quickly. In community culture flash talks are useful...
Flip the Script
To reverse the usual framing, expectations, or power dynamics of a situation. In work culture the phrase is often used when people want to challenge default...
Food for Thought
An idiom used to offer an idea meant to provoke reflection rather than demand immediate agreement. In workplace culture it often softens disagreement or...
Full Transparency
A commitment to sharing information openly and honestly rather than hiding important context. In workplace culture full transparency is often aspirational, but...
FWIW
For What It's Worth — a hedge indicating that the following information may or may not be useful to the reader. Often a prelude to the most useful thing in the...
Ghost
To disappear from a conversation, thread, or process without explanation or follow-up. In work settings it often describes someone who stops responding when...
IANAL
I Am Not A Lawyer — a disclaimer preceding legal opinions from non-lawyers, providing zero actual legal protection but signaling self-awareness that the...
IIRC
If I Recall Correctly — a qualifier indicating uncertainty about a claim, providing plausible deniability if wrong. The polite way of saying 'I'm about to...
IMO
Short for 'in my opinion,' used to soften or frame a statement as a personal view rather than an objective fact. It is common in technical chat, code review,...
IMO / IMHO
IMO and IMHO are internet abbreviations meaning In My Opinion and In My Humble Opinion (or In My Honest Opinion), respectively. They are used to preface a...
Investor Relations
The function responsible for managing communication and relationships with investors, especially in public or late-stage private companies. Investor relations...
Investor Update
A recurring report founders send to investors summarizing company progress, key metrics, asks, risks, and milestones. Good investor updates build trust and...
Megathread
A very long discussion thread collecting many related updates, complaints, or ideas into one place. In engineering slang, megathreads can be convenient...
No Comment
A refusal to elaborate, often used literally or sarcastically when a situation is too messy, sensitive, or absurd to explain cleanly. In engineering slang, 'no...
No ETA
A status phrase meaning there is no credible time estimate yet for a fix, response, or completion. Good teams use it when honesty matters more than false...
Ping
1. A network utility that sends ICMP echo requests to test connectivity and measure latency. Named after sonar. 2. In office slang: to send someone a message,...
Pseudo Code
An informal, language-agnostic notation for describing an algorithm's logic using plain language mixed with programming constructs like loops, conditionals,...
Public Disclosure
The act of making security findings, incidents, or vulnerability details available to the public rather than restricting them to private coordination. Public...
Remote First
Describing an organization designed primarily for remote work, with processes, tooling, and communication norms built so distributed participation is the...
Reply All
The email action that responds to every recipient on a thread, often necessary in some contexts and regrettable in others. It is a small workplace mechanic...
Risk Communication
The practice of explaining security risk clearly to the people who need to understand, own, or act on it, such as engineers, leaders, auditors, or customers....
Same Page
Shared understanding about goals, facts, or decisions. In engineering slang, getting on the same page is often the hidden real work beneath meetings that...
Skip Level Meeting
A meeting between an employee and their manager's manager, often used for feedback, visibility, or broader context.
Slack Overflow
An overload condition where too much work, coordination, and informal support flows through chat, making it hard to keep up or find signal.
Small Talk (social)
Casual social conversation not primarily aimed at solving a technical problem or making a decision. In engineering culture it is sometimes undervalued, even...
Soft Skills
Interpersonal and organizational abilities such as communication, empathy, facilitation, conflict management, writing, and influence that affect how...
Status Page
The page where a company reports service health, incidents, and maintenance updates to users. In engineering slang, the status page is part communication tool...
Storytelling in Tech
The skill of framing technical work through narratives that help people understand why it matters and how parts connect.
Support Channel
A designated place where users can ask for help or receive updates, such as an issue tracker, forum, chat room, or mailing list. In healthy projects, support...
Take It Offline
A request to move a detailed or side-topic discussion out of the current meeting or channel so the main group can continue. It can be efficient or a polite way...
Technical Writing
The discipline of creating clear, accurate, user-centered documentation for technical products — API docs, tutorials, reference guides, runbooks, and...
UART
UART, or Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter, is a hardware communication protocol and device used for serial data transmission between two devices...
Verbose
Providing a lot of detail, often more than the normal mode. In engineering it can describe logs, command output, APIs, interfaces, or writing that favors...

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