Understanding the words and phrases your IT department uses can be about as easy as understanding Chinese. The communication between the IT department and the rest of the company always seems to be lacking, mostly because regular employees don’t understand the language used by information technology professionals. If you don’t understand what your ‘computer guy’ is saying to you, how can you avoid the same mistakes in the future that led to your computer crashing? Below we have listed some of the most common IT slang words to help you improve your communication with your Information Technology department.
SysOp refers to a systems operator which is the person who manages the computer network. If your office computers are interconnected through a computer network, the systems operator is the person in charge of managing it.
OS is something you’ll hear your IT person say in regards to your computer’s operating system. The operating system of a computer is the software that controls the most basic functions of the computer or the computer network. Unless you’re a computer expert, it doesn’t really matter because there’s nothing you can to fix your operating system.
DSL refers to digital subscriber line, which is a method and speed by which one connects to the internet. Within an office environment, you should rarely hear this word as it is the responsibility of your IT department to ensure your computers are fully connected to the internet without problems.
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and basically is a method by which you can transfer files via the internet or over a network. Typically 2 computers are involved in this interaction; the server and the client. You might hear this term if you deal with art, or other important files. This is especially common among organizations that utilize freelance workers or intra-company communications.
BW refers to bandwidth, which is the rate by which information is passed along to electronic communication. You will hear this term most often refer to how fast or slow your computer is working. Although most employees of the IT department won’t take time to explain to you simple matters like bandwidth.
HTTP is the hypertext transfer protocol. You should recognize this slang as the beginning of all major web addresses on the internet. Take a look next time you’re on the internet, http helps you get the page in which you requested.
URL stands for uniform research locator, and is commonly known as a web address. When you speak with a member of your IT department, they will frequently ask “what’s the URL” and instead of staring blankly with your mouth open, you can just give them the address with which you’re having trouble.
Understanding the members of your Information Technology department is crucial to performing the functions of your job. Notoriously finicky with at best, average people skills, IT employees often have little patience for computer ignorance. The best way to get over this hurdle so you can receive help without wanting to kill your entire IT department is to familiarize yourself with the slang associated with their craft. If not, you might find yourself as the butt of some cruel IT jokes.
Below, is a list of IT slang words that have no relation to problems you may have with your computer or network.
PEBKAC is an acronym that means ‘problem exists between keyboard and chair’. Although it seems relatively harmless, this is your IT department’s way of saying that what’s wrong with your computer is, well you. Even though it is slightly hilarious, knowing helpful slang like this will allow you to make biting retorts to their obvious frustration with your lack of computer geek speak.
EBKAC is very similar to PEBKAC, but this acronym stands for ‘error between keyboard and chair” which again means that you are the source of the problem rather than the computer. These two phrases are often used in reference to employees that have constant computer problems yet continue to blame it on the computer.
PICNIC is another clever way for your IT department to call you stupid. Put simply, it means “problem in chair, not in computer”. Again, it’s helpful to have a good sense of humour about these things, but it’s just as helpful to know what they’re saying because as you can tell, sometimes it has nothing to do with computer language.
Although these last two phrases might not help your communication with your IT department, it will at least let them know that you know enough to know when you’re being bashed. If you exercise patience with your computer and IT department, you should never hear these phrases uttered in reference to you. Nevertheless, learning helpful IT slang words will make getting your computer problems fixed easier than ever.
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