Update: According to Silicon Valley Dictionary cofounders/cocreators, Zeeshan Javed and Mathew Hui, Kilim Choi has left the project. Javed and Hui currently are the parties in charge of SVDictionary.
The human language is an ever-evolving thing of beauty, wherein colloquialisms shift along with the ebb and flow of human consciousness, and the essential meaning of certain words change from one of acceptance to that of repugnance. As our society moves towards an apex of entrepreneurial spirit, it is by no means surprising – indeed, really, apropos – that our everyday vernacular has transformed alongside the development of the digital world and the accompanying startup ecosystem. Hence, we’ve reached a convergence at which “bae” meets “brogrammer”; today, friends, we welcome the Silicon Valley Dictionary – the Urban Dictionary for Silicon Valley jargon that you never asked for but definitely always wanted.
While you and your squad were celebrating America on Cape Cod this weekend, you may have missed Silicon Valley Dictionary posted to Product Hunt by Kilim Choi, an entrepreneur and engineer working on SlicedHam, a site that seems to compile stories and resources on engineering from around the Web. According to Choi, he and a friend thought that creating the Silicon Valley Dictionary would be a humorous and novel pursuit, hoping to both educate people on everyday, real-life jargon used in the startup and tech world, while at the same time poking some fun at the ridiculousness that is Silicon Valley.
“The other day while watching the Silicon Valley TV show, my friend Matt thought that it would be hilarious and educational to create a website like urban dictionary for all the lingos from the show,” writes Choi. “So we created one.”
While Silicon Valley Dictionary was created initially to highlight the words used in the Mike Judge HBO comedy series, most (if not all) of the words currently listed are very much used by the everyman and everywoman in the startup world. From words like “gamification” to phrases like “hockey stick growth”, Silicon Valley Dictionary touches on the very real hysterics observed by those from both outside and within the tech industry.
And, really, I’m personally excited to see the dictionary grow to the status of Urban Dictionary (which now has its own mobile app – I know because I have it on my iPhone). People from all over the Internet community can make contributions to Silicon Valley Dictionary, meaning there’s an endless number of possibilities for new words each week that may be used by yet another *~*disruptive*~* member of the tech community.
Check out Silicon Valley Dictionary now. Because it’s Monday and you need something to give you life.