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Phrases that Resonate

  • June 15, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    #252019

    Comments posted to this topic are about the item Phrases that Resonate

    Andy
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  • June 15, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    #1339441

    Got a phrase that you use to share a difficult concept?

    As a matter of fact, I do... [font="Arial Black"]RBAR[/font] 😉

    --Jeff Moden

    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • June 16, 2011 at 2:43 am

    #1339506

    How about 'dead in the water'.

  • June 16, 2011 at 2:48 am

    #1339509

    "Dead as a flat badger." Followed by the analogy:

    "Sure you can drive with a push bike the 100 miles. But if you want to arrive there quick, you better take the car."

    Whenever I have to talk with management about why our server resources are inadequate.

  • June 16, 2011 at 3:08 am

    #1339514

    I always liked 'Picnic'. Problem In Chair, Not In Computer.

    I have a lot of this where I work sadly. 😀

  • June 16, 2011 at 3:30 am

    #1339522

    I know this as "Pebkac" - Problem exists between keyboard and chair.

  • June 16, 2011 at 3:41 am

    #1339523

    Knut Boehnert (6/16/2011)

    I know this as "Pebkac" - Problem exists between keyboard and chair.

    ...also known as the eye-dee-ten-tee problem (ID10T) or the "layer 8 issue" (the logical extension to the 7 layer OSI model being the user).

    In IT terms, one can talk of an app "automagically" populating something rather than trying to explain the algorithm behind the real time lookup and insertion. However, many's the time when a techie will try to explain something to a non-techie, but will use so much jargon that the explanation is worse than the original concept. In that case, the techie could be accused of "simplicating".

    Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat

  • June 16, 2011 at 4:19 am

    #1339539

    This turkey will not fly

    Madame Artois

  • June 16, 2011 at 6:49 am

    #1339629

    One of my co-workers was a Chinese national and sometimes his command of the English language - coupled with his brevity - led to some "inside jokes" for the DBA group that are still used, years after their first introduction to a conversation (in this case, about troubleshooting). One of these lasting quotes was simply...

    "Database fine."

    Luckily, he was a good sport and knew we weren't poking fun at him when we repeated it as the occasion required shorthand for "stop blaming the database for bad code" and fit nicely on one occasion when we discovered the cause of "performance problems" blamed on the database to be a [huge, very complicated] query that started with "SELECT DISTINCT *" ...

  • June 16, 2011 at 7:08 am

    #1339652

    Never use phrases like "I think it's time the rich client got a new facelift" or "we need to dump our fat client for a thin client model" in front of an actual client who isn't tech savvy. 🙂

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • June 16, 2011 at 7:08 am

    #1339653

    🙂

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • June 16, 2011 at 7:11 am

    #1339658

    One of my favorite explanatory expressions: "We could do it that way but it would like using a sledge hammer to kill a flea."

  • June 16, 2011 at 7:13 am

    #1339661

    Andy, I have to say, your flying ship phrase amused me.

    One that I've misappropriated is "data stream", to indicate the flow of data from first arrival to final rest or evaporation. Business people "get it" when I use that phrase. They easily grasp that the stream of data includes people as well as computers, and so on. It's not the "official" definition of the phrase, it's just how I've been misusing it for decades.

    - Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
    Property of The Thread

    "Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon

  • June 16, 2011 at 7:29 am

    #1339683

    "Do you want a Yugo, a Buick, or a Porsche?" I use that when the business asks for a quick, but potentially long-living database application. Then I explain you can do simply collect the information in Excel, or get some querying capability in MS Access, or wait a little longer and a get a top-of-line fast-running, scalable, maintainable solution on SQL Server.

  • June 16, 2011 at 7:44 am

    #1339701

    2 of my faves where I work are:

    "Do you want a Yugo to pull a Semi Trailer?"

    and

    "You have a toothpick holding up the fortress."

    This is usually reserved for some of the Access databases they have around here that I have to support..:crying:

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