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A publicly available technical specification that anyone can implement, use, and extend without royalty obligations or proprietary restrictions. Open standards like HTTP, JSON, and OpenAPI enable interoperability between different vendors and communities, reducing lock-in and fostering innovation.

“MCP is an open standard, meaning any AI vendor can implement it to connect their models to tools.”

The time delay between initiating an action and receiving the first response. In networking, latency is the round-trip time for a data packet; in AI, it often refers to time-to-first-token or end-to-end inference time. Lower latency means faster, more responsive user experiences.

“The new model has lower latency but slightly less accuracy — a classic speed/quality trade-off.”

The amount of work a system can process in a given time period. In APIs it's usually measured in requests per second; in AI inference it's tokens per second. Throughput and latency are related but distinct — a system can have high throughput while still having high latency for individual requests.

“The inference cluster achieved 10,000 tokens per second throughput across all concurrent users.”

Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery — a set of software engineering practices and tools that automate the process of testing, building, and deploying code changes. CI automatically validates every commit; CD deploys validated code to production frequently and reliably without manual intervention.

“The team ships 20 times a day safely because their CI/CD pipeline catches regressions automatically.”

A set of practices, tools, and cultural philosophies that unite software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) teams. DevOps breaks down silos, automates repetitive tasks, and instills shared responsibility for the full software lifecycle from code to production monitoring.

“After adopting DevOps, their release cycle went from monthly to daily.”

A design philosophy where the API contract is defined and agreed upon before any implementation begins. API-first teams treat the API as the product — writing the specification first (e.g., in OpenAPI), getting feedback from consumers, then building both client and server simultaneously against the agreed contract.

“Their API-first approach meant the mobile app team could start building against the spec before the backend was done.”

An API that exposes data as a graph of interconnected nodes and edges, allowing clients to traverse relationships and fetch exactly the data they need in a single request. GraphQL is the most common implementation, replacing multiple REST endpoints with a flexible query language.

“The graph API let the client fetch a user, their posts, and each post's comments in one request instead of four.”

Natural charisma, charm, or the ability to attract others effortlessly — especially in a romantic context. Someone with rizz seems to captivate people without trying. Can also be used as a verb: to rizz someone up means to charm or seduce them.

“He walked into the party with unspoken rizz — no pickup lines, just vibes.”

Extremely delicious or of excellent quality — most commonly used to describe food. Originally AAVE (African American Vernacular English), it crossed into mainstream internet slang around 2021. Something that is bussin is not just good; it is exceptionally, undeniably amazing.

“These tacos are absolutely bussin, no cap.”

To a moderate degree; somewhat; secretly or subtly. Used to hedge a statement or admission, soften an opinion, or indicate that you feel a certain way but don't want to make a big deal of it. Often used to admit something mildly embarrassing or nonchalant.

“I lowkey love that cheesy pop song everyone pretends to hate.”

Very much; obviously; without restraint or reservation. The emphatic opposite of lowkey — used to express that you feel strongly and openly about something rather than subtly or secretly. Frequently paired with statements of genuine enthusiasm or strong opinion.

“I'm highkey obsessed with this new show, I've watched every episode twice.”

Short for "suspicious" — describing behavior, a person, or a situation that seems sketchy, untrustworthy, or questionable. Popularized globally by the game Among Us (2020), where players accuse each other of being the impostor. Now used broadly for anything that doesn't seem right.

“Why is he being so quiet? That's pretty sus.”

Mediocre; average; nothing special; disappointingly ordinary. A dismissive rating for something that falls in the middle — not bad enough to hate but not good enough to praise. Calling something "mid" implies it had potential but failed to deliver anything notable.

“The hype was insane but the movie was honestly just mid.”

An expression of agreement, affirmation, or acknowledgment — similar to "okay," "understood," or "sounds good." Can also express that a challenge has been accepted. Originated in AAVE and spread widely through social media. The enthusiasm level is implied by context.

“"Meet me at 6?" — "Bet."”

A phrase used to compliment someone who has perfectly executed what was expected or more. It implies the person grasped not just the literal task but the spirit, energy, and aesthetic of the moment — and delivered fully on it. Often used for fashion, performances, or any context requiring vibe accuracy.

“She showed up to the Met Gala in a fully custom look that matched the theme exactly — she understood the assignment.”

The behavior or belief that one's own life is a story where they are the protagonist and everyone else is a supporting character. "Main character energy" can be positive (living boldly and authentically) or ironic/negative (being oblivious to others' needs because you're too focused on your own narrative arc).

“She walked into the office wearing a cape — pure main character energy.”

Non-Playable Character — a term borrowed from video games to describe a person who seems to act on autopilot, lack individual thought, follow social scripts unthinkingly, or show no original personality. An NPC mindlessly agrees with mainstream opinion without independent reasoning.

“He just repeated the talking points without any nuance — total NPC behavior.”

An intensely devoted fan, or the act of being one. Derived from Eminem's 2000 song "Stan" about an obsessive fan. As a verb, to stan someone means to support them passionately and actively. Stan culture drives massive engagement on social media, with fandoms mobilizing around their favorites.

“The Swifties absolutely stan Taylor — they crashed Ticketmaster trying to buy concert tickets.”

To endorse or enthusiastically support a romantic pairing between two people — real or fictional. Derived from "relationship." Fans write fanfiction, create art, and post about characters or celebrities they ship together. A "ship" (noun) is the pairing itself.

“Half the fandom ships those two characters so hard there's thousands of fanfics about them.”

A formative life experience that seems destined to happen and cannot be changed without altering who a person fundamentally becomes. Popularized by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), it spread as a meme for inevitable painful or awkward experiences that "must" happen for character development.

“Getting rejected from your first-choice college is a canon event — it redirects you somewhere better.”