Anti-Glossary

Clarity and humanity live at the center of our vocabulary when we talk about people. Automattic prefers a friendlier approach to the typical jargon for talking about staffing, hiring, and moving people. We avoid ambiguity by using a specific word or phrase to communicate the exact need.

Automattic’s “Expectations” page excerpt

I contributed to the public anti-glossary because I believe words matter. How we talk about people in a group, company, organization frames — and reveals our values.

My favorite example is “replace” instead of “backfill.”

Backfill — Simpler and more clear to use a verb such as replace. A common reason would be to hire or move someone after a departure.

A friendlier, more clear approach to how we speak about each other.

Evergreen

tpp

Bookmark for a business-y word I now seem to see everywhere. Isn’t it odd how you tune in to something and end up noticing it more often?

In this case, “evergreen” means “timeless.” Something that ages well, keeps its value, lives a long life.

For example, The Pragmatic Programmer by Andy Hunt and David Thomas is an evergreen book on software craftsmanship. (And presumably doesn’t lose its pages in cold weather.)