Regular readers will know my fascination with jargon, and when I saw an article about words used by hip young start-ups in The Wall Street Journal the other day, I thought I just had to share it with you. 🙂

Before I send you over to the article itself, let me whet your appetite…

Pebcak

An acronym for “Problems Emerge Between Chair And Keyboard,” a sardonic programmer term for what happens when users are too dumb to use software correctly.

Pufferfish

Among other tricks, startups have been known to decorate empty desks and to create elaborate voice-mail systems to make it seem like more people work there.

Subprime unicorn

Many companies that were once highly prized by investors are now worth much less, or are rumored to be so.

Green meadow

Finding a truly new and undiscovered market. But very often what seems like a great, wide-open opportunity turns out to be a mirage. “Finding a green meadow often signals brilliance, stupidity or a lack of due diligence; sometimes all three.”

.

So, if you’d like to do their quiz and/or talk like a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, here’s the link to the article. Enjoy!