I came to Radii with little background in the tech world and for the first few months it was not unlike living in a foreign country. That is to say, as an American from the Southwest, it was actually very much like living in a foreign country. As I walked in and took a first look around, programming chatter and talk of apps and servers swirled nauseatingly about me with no regard nor mercy for my cluelessness. Of course, the Radii folks were patient, but it was clear that my ignorance wouldn’t suffice—both for Radii and for keeping up with the modern world.

My background is Anthropology, the medical science kind. My university studies had focused on ethnobotany in the tropical regions of the world, especially the countries between Paraguay and Mexico—which is to say that the bulk of my education had to do with plants and the people who use them for medicine, a far stretch from web studies. I tied my research into Mesoamerican Archaeology and, for a dose of unwitting pragmatism, also studied languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Guarani. The irony of spending years learning Spanish and moving to a country that finds French particularly helpful was not lost on me.

So when it first dawned on me that the keyline I had been asked to enter in a piece of copy had nothing whatsoever to do with a keynote and was, in fact, just a line with a noble title, I decided that the geek speak had to be learned. Below you will find an abbreviated dictionary of terms and jargon that might be helpful for non-tech folks.

It’s worthy to note that the term “geek” was chosen simply because I have a chronic inability to pass up a pun, particularly a bad one, and that I am well aware—and wear it with similar pride—that a fascination with the Passiflora edulis of Paraguay qualifies me for geekdom as well, though perhaps as a different species. Geek or not, use this list as a introductory guide with caution!

A

  • Alignment: the adjustment of lines of copy or imagery; designers can be considered “maligned” if, after a long day, they go rogue
  • Art director: the individual with the tallest stacks of paper on their desk
  • Automanually: in programming, that which should be automatic which consistently requires manual work

B

  • Baklava code: code with too many layers
  • Bleed: in print design, a bleed is a design that extends to and over the edge of the paper
  • Bomb out: when a page or site crashes
  • Boolean Zen: the proper practice of using Boolean expressions directly without testing for equality to true or false
  • Blue screen of death: what happens before a synchronized groan by the development department
  • Bugfoot: a bug that has only been sighted by one person

C

  • Comp: a design composition, usually exploring the themes and layout of a design with various options
  • Copy: written content
  • Copy effort: well-written content that is reworded for its effort
  • Cookie: A reward given to a geek for a job well done
  • Comment: to void a section of code; to insert programming notes that are otherwise ignored by the computer
  • CMYK: Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black colours, as used in print
  • CSS: Cascading Style Sheet, which works via HTML and allows designers to work their magic
  • Cut-and-waste code: code that has been cut and paste from a miscellaneous source online

D

  • Dynamic: elements of the website change according to different input by the user
  • Dummy text: copy the Art Director will throw out

E

  • Element: a particular non-chemical part of a layout
  • Error 404: someone changed something in the index

F

  • Field trip fix: solving a frustration by getting out of the office for a break
  • Frames: a single graphic image in a sequence of graphic images, used in animation

H

  • Hard copy: copy that has been printed with the intention of doing time
  • Heisenbug: a coding bug that disappears or changes when examined

I

  • Information architecture: the organization of websites, intranets and software to maximize usability.

J

  • Java: a programming language that require a substantial amount of coffee to implement
  • JavaScript: a scripting language useful for beginning coders in its relative similarity to other languages; not synonymous with Java
  • Justify: to make a line of type a certain length through spacing; excess snack intake while coding can be said to be “justified”

K

  • Kerning: the horizontal spacing between letters in a word
  • Keming: bad kerning
  • Keyline: A rule or line that can be solid or of various patterns

L

  • Layout: the setup and style of a page; does not refer to any opportunity for napping
  • Leading: the vertical spacing between lines of text
  • Leaf: one piece of paper in a publication

M

  • Master page: a feature that allows users to create repeating elements a single time
  • Meta tags: HTML tags used to identify a web page, as applied for SEO

N

  • Noise: random colour pixels in an image, usually a photograph

O

  • Opacity: the degree of transparency of an image or object
  • Orphan: a line of a paragraph that consists of a single word

P

  • Programming: computer magic in code form

Q

  • Query: a search request submitted to a database

R

  • RGB: Red-Green-Blue, as used in web design
  • Rules: HTML tags that insert horizontal lines as separators

S

  • Schrodinger’s Code: the program probably works in an alternate dimension
  • Scar tissue: code that is commented out but still included in the current version
  • Sharpen: when an image or a web professional appears dull, they undergo a sharpening process that increases amounts of both focus and noise
  • Spread: two pages that face each other and are created as one item; see second definition under “Weight”

T

  • Thumbnail: a smaller version of an original image that has been trimmed down and manicured
  • Typeface: what you see when you look at text

U

  • Usability testing: when the development guys borrow you to see if the program is simple enough that you can use it

W

  • Weight: the range of a stroke; a sedentary copywriter’s width
  • Wireframe: a type of screen blueprint that serves as a visual guide, as part of the information architecture
  • Widow line: a single line of a paragraph at the bottom of a page or column

Z

  • Zip: Zone Information Protocol, which compresses files for easier sending; time is of the essence


After you've brushed up on your geek speak, it's recommended that you visit your local geek gaggle and thank them for not only creating and understanding such a complex dialect, but using it to make the web better. Bake them a cake (or an apple pie). Give a hug. And let them know that all their patience and effort (endless hours and pots of coffee) helping you dip your toes into their world hasn't been in vain.

Did we miss your favourite tech definition? Any ambiguous or uncommon terminology you think would be useful? Let us know in the comments below!