Say it like this
- We're carrying a lot of technical debt in that module.
- We need to pay down our technical debt before the next release.
- Taking on technical debt to hit the deadline was a calculated risk.
Use it at work
Planning
- Let's spend 20% of each sprint on technical debt.
- This shortcut will add technical debt.
Explaining
- Technical debt is slowing every new feature.
- We took on technical debt to hit the launch date.
With managers
- If we don't pay down this tech debt, the next project will be late.
- Can we prioritize technical debt next quarter?
Don't say this
Technical debt is not fixed by stopping work; it is fixed by paying it down through refactoring and cleanup.
Don't mix it up
| Term | What it is | Who writes or uses it | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| technical debt | Cost of past shortcuts | Engineers | Planning |
| legacy code | Old code still in use | Engineers | Older systems |
| bug | Something broken | Developers | Errors |
Practice
Try it
4 quick exercises
1. Your manager asks why the new feature is taking longer than expected. You want to explain past shortcuts. What do you say?
2. We shipped quickly last quarter, but now we are _______ the _______ by refactoring the payment module.
3. Which sentence uses 'technical debt' incorrectly?
4. Rewrite this in natural tech English using 'technical debt': 'We made the code quickly without testing, and now it takes longer to add new things because the code is messy.'
Say it out loud
Phrase 1 of 3
"We're carrying a lot of technical debt in that module."
We don't save your recording. The word check uses your browser's speech recognition.
More about technical debt
Real examples(3)
- in a standup
"We shipped the feature on time, but we accumulated some technical debt by skipping unit tests."
- in a code review
"This hardcoded value is a shortcut—we're adding to our technical debt here."
- in a team meeting
"If we don't address our technical debt soon, every new feature will take twice as long to develop."
More mistakes(2)
Handle with care. Technical debt is not a bad thing per se—it is a strategic trade-off. Do not use it to mean simply 'bad code' or 'bugs'. It refers to shortcuts taken deliberately to deliver faster, with known future costs.
- ✕Technical debt means the code has bugs.✓Technical debt is the backlog of work created by prioritizing speed over quality.
Debt refers to future work, not current bugs. Bugs are separate issues.
- ✕We should never take on technical debt.✓We should take on technical debt strategically when time-to-market is critical.
Technical debt is sometimes the right business decision; the key is being intentional about it.
Other forms(3)
- technical debt noun
"Technical debt in our codebase is slowing down development."
- accrue technical debt noun phrase
"We accrued technical debt by shipping the MVP without full test coverage."
- pay down technical debt noun phrase
"We need to pay down technical debt in the authentication module."
Often used with(5)
- accrue / accumulate technical debt · Used when shortcuts add up over time: 'We accumulated too much technical debt.'
- pay down technical debt · Used for refactoring and cleanup work: 'We are paying down technical debt this sprint.'
- high / low technical debt · Describes the severity: 'This module has high technical debt.'
- take on technical debt · Used when deliberately choosing speed over quality: 'We took on technical debt to meet the deadline.'
- technical debt interest · The ongoing cost of carrying debt: 'The technical debt interest is slowing us down.'
Similar words(3)
- code debt · Slightly less formal; means the same thing.
- legacy code · Refers to old code, but does not always imply a deliberate trade-off like debt does.
- technical backlog · More general term for outstanding engineering work, including but not limited to debt.
Opposites(3)
- code quality
- maintainability
- clean code
Questions(5)
- What does technical debt mean in software engineering?
- Technical debt is the accumulated cost of prioritizing quick delivery over code quality. It represents shortcuts taken during development that create future work. Like financial debt, it has interest—the longer you carry it, the more expensive it becomes because the code becomes harder to modify and maintain.
- How do you use technical debt in a sentence at work?
- You might say: 'We took on technical debt to ship the MVP on time,' or 'We need to pay down technical debt in the authentication module.' It is commonly used in retrospectives, sprint planning, and code reviews.
- Is technical debt always bad?
- No. Technical debt is sometimes a smart business decision. The key is being intentional about it and creating a plan to pay it down. Problems arise when debt accumulates without acknowledgment or when there is no plan to address it.
- What is the difference between technical debt and bugs?
- Bugs are current problems in the code. Technical debt is the backlog of work created by past shortcuts. You can have technical debt without bugs, and bugs are not always caused by debt.
- How do you pay down technical debt?
- By refactoring, adding tests, rewriting messy code, and improving documentation. Teams typically allocate time in sprints specifically for paying down debt, often called 'tech debt sprints' or 'refactoring work.'
