logoalt Hacker News

semiquavertoday at 5:23 PM4 repliesview on HN

I know this ship has sailed but the modern term “cyber” usually referring to offensive or defensive software technology (presumably short for cybersecurity) drives me up a wall. It’s even worse than “crypto”. I find that people who use this term are, ceteris paribus, likelier to be full of crap.


Replies

tptacektoday at 5:38 PM

It's so firmly established that, just like crypto, making a stink about it says more about the objector. I don't like it either! "Cyber" is cringe, and "crypto" should mean "cryptography". But I'm not the king of usage, and both those terms have new meanings.

show 4 replies
dmurraytoday at 6:04 PM

Wanna cyber?

show 1 reply
DocTomoetoday at 6:27 PM

As an old school hacker ... I feel your pain.

Words change meaning all the time. I vividly remember when 'coder' was used as a diminutive, much like the later script-kiddie or code-monkey - "A software developer of little skill or knowledge". Today, people habitually call themselves that.

show 2 replies
jjtheblunttoday at 5:36 PM

"order of magnitude" seems to also be silly-speak very often, trying to sound more technical than "ten times".

i suppose it is similar to "exponentially" being used when it doesn't mean exponentially.

show 1 reply