Escalation Glossary
Browse 13 escalation terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.
13 Escalation Terms
- Code Snowball
- A small code task or problem that grows quickly as it rolls into more dependencies, edge cases, and follow-up work. In engineering slang, code snowballs are...
- Code Spiral
- A worsening loop where each fix, workaround, or new layer of complexity creates the need for more of the same. In engineering slang, a code spiral is the path...
- Come to Jesus Meeting
- A blunt, serious meeting where people are expected to confront problems honestly and stop pretending things are fine. In engineering slang, it usually means...
- Double Down Slang
- Informal language for committing even harder to a decision, pattern, or direction instead of reconsidering it. In engineering slang, doubling down can mean...
- Flip Table
- A dramatic expression of frustration, often jokingly invoked when a technical problem or meeting has become too absurd. In engineering slang, flipping the...
- Going Nuclear
- Taking an extreme action rather than continuing with incremental steps. In engineering slang, going nuclear usually means a full reset, hard shutdown, or...
- Incident Escalation
- The act of raising an event or investigation to a higher severity, broader response team, or more senior authority when evidence shows greater risk or impact....
- Nuclear Option
- The most extreme available action to resolve a problem, such as deleting and rebuilding, forcing a failover, or shutting down a system entirely. In engineering...
- Phone a Friend
- To call in someone else for help, usually because the current problem has exceeded your confidence or context. In engineering slang, phoning a friend is often...
- Red Phone
- A joking metaphor for the urgent escalation path used when normal communication is too slow. In engineering slang, the red phone is who or what gets used when...
- Stop the Line
- To halt work, release, or throughput because continuing would be unsafe or irresponsible. In engineering slang, stopping the line means treating quality or...
- Terminal Velocity
- The point where a situation is moving so fast under its own force that changing course becomes much harder. In engineering slang, projects and incidents can...
- Warning Shot
- An early signal or minor incident that should be treated as a serious warning before worse things happen. In engineering slang, teams regret ignoring warning...
Related Topics
- Slang (11 terms in common)
- Drastic Measures (2 terms in common)
- Growing Scope (1 terms in common)
- Triage (1 terms in common)
- Signals (1 terms in common)
- Momentum (1 terms in common)
- Frank Conversations (1 terms in common)
- Operations (1 terms in common)
- Quality (1 terms in common)
- Commitment (1 terms in common)
- Complexity (1 terms in common)
- Frustration (1 terms in common)
- Asking For Help (1 terms in common)
- Urgency (1 terms in common)
- Incident Response (1 terms in common)