Technology phrases and words in English
Tech words that broke out of the server room and into everyday speech — say you have no bandwidth, that you need to reboot, that a friend went down a rabbit hole, or that something just went viral.
15 phrases · meanings & example sentences
“Down the rabbit hole”
From Alice in Wonderland, but it lives online now — the deep, time-eating dive you start with one search and finish at 2am knowing everything about a stranger or a hobby. Used for any obsessive, accidental deep-dive, especially through links, tabs and Wikipedia.
- Started reading one review, ended up watching teardown videos for three hours. Total rabbit hole
- Looked up his ex's name once and went straight down the rabbit hole
- Meant to check a recipe, now I know the entire history of olive oil. Rabbit hole
“No bandwidth”
Bandwidth is how much data a connection can carry — borrowed to mean mental capacity. Saying you have no bandwidth is the polite, slightly corporate way to say you're maxed out and can't take on anything more.
- I'd love to help plan the trip but genuinely no bandwidth this month
- Three deadlines and a sick kid. No bandwidth for drama right now
- Ask me in two weeks — zero bandwidth at the moment
“Reboot”
Rebooting a computer means switching it off and on to clear whatever's gone wrong. Used for yourself when you're frazzled and need to reset — a nap, a coffee, a long weekend — to start functioning properly again.
- I can't think straight. Need to reboot. Back after a coffee
- Full weekend offline, no phone. Total reboot
- She rebooted with a holiday and came back a completely different person
“Ping me”
A ping is a tiny signal sent to check if a server is alive. Now it just means send a quick message — a nudge, not a whole conversation. The casual way to ask someone to reach out when they're ready or something changes.
- Ping me when you land and I'll come get you
- Don't book anything yet — ping me once you know the dates
- He never replies to emails but ping him and he's instant
“On the same wavelength”
From radio, where two devices must be tuned to the same frequency to communicate. Used when two people just get each other instantly — same instincts, same humour, no explaining needed. The opposite is talking past each other entirely.
- We ordered the exact same thing without looking at the menu. Same wavelength
- New colleague just gets it — we're completely on the same wavelength
- Me and my brother are never on the same wavelength about money
“Off the grid”
The grid is the electrical and communications network connecting everyone. Going off it means cutting out completely — no signal, no email, no being found. Used for a digital detox, or for anyone who's gone silent and unreachable.
- Booked a cabin with no wifi for a week. Going completely off the grid
- He went off the grid after the breakup. Nobody's heard a word
- Sunday is off the grid for me — phone stays in a drawer
“Plug and play”
From hardware you can plug in and use instantly, no setup needed. Used for anything that works straight out of the box — a new hire who needs no training, a plan with no fiddly steps, a situation that just runs.
- The new manager was plug and play — hit the ground running on day one
- I love this recipe, totally plug and play. Three ingredients, no thinking
- We needed someone plug and play, not a six-month onboarding project
“In the loop”
A loop is a closed circuit where information flows — to be in it is to stay informed; out of it, you're left in the dark. Used constantly at work and among friends for who's getting updates and who's quietly being excluded.
- Keep me in the loop on the party planning — I want to actually help
- Everyone knew about the layoffs except me. Totally out of the loop
- He left her out of the loop on purpose, and she noticed
“Glitch”
A brief, unexplained fault in a system that often fixes itself for no clear reason. Used to wave off any small, weird, one-off hiccup — a strange mood, a fluke mistake, a moment that doesn't fit the pattern.
- He was rude once in a year — just a glitch, I'm letting it go
- The card got declined then worked instantly. Some kind of glitch
- She forgot my name mid-introduction. Total brain glitch
“Life hack”
A hack in computing is a clever, unofficial fix that gets a result the standard way wouldn't. A life hack is any small trick or shortcut that makes everyday life easier — saving time, effort or money with a non-obvious method.
- Freeze grapes to chill wine without watering it down. Best life hack
- His whole morning routine is just stacked life hacks. Impressive and mildly exhausting
- She had a life hack for everything — flat was immaculate with zero effort
“Crash”
When a program crashes it stops working completely and suddenly. Used in everyday life for anything that collapses without warning — plans falling apart, a mood tanking, or your energy disappearing at the end of a long day.
- Hit 4pm and completely crashed. Couldn't string a sentence together
- Party was great but I crashed the second I got home
- Whole plan crashed when the venue cancelled two days before
“Low battery”
A phone running out of charge. Used as a metaphor for being exhausted or socially drained — needing to recharge just like a device does. Often used by introverts to describe how they feel after too much socialising.
- Running on low battery after that family dinner — need a quiet night in
- She's an introvert, big parties leave her completely low battery
- Can't do another meeting today. Low battery, need lunch first
“Hard reset”
A hard reset forces a device back to its factory state, wiping everything and starting fresh. Used when someone needs more than a break — a complete overhaul of habits, environment or direction.
- Quit the job, moved cities, started over. Full hard reset
- Three months abroad was the hard reset she needed after the divorce
- Deleted all social media. Hard reset on my attention span
“Under the hood”
The hood of a car covers the engine — the part most people never look at. Used for anything happening beneath the surface that isn't obvious until you dig — the real mechanics of a system, a plan, or a person.
- The app looks simple but there's a lot going on under the hood
- He seems calm but under the hood he's completely overwhelmed
- It worked, but nobody wanted to look under the hood at how
