Nerd Sniping
Noun · Hacker Culture
Definitions
The act of distracting technically curious people with an irresistibly interesting problem, puzzle, or challenge that consumes far more attention than intended. The phrase was popularized by xkcd and is now standard developer humor.
In plain English: Hooking someone with a fascinating technical problem so they cannot stop thinking about it.
Example: "That regex edge case turned into full nerd sniping and ate the entire afternoon."