Language shapes the work. The words we use in standups, in PRs, in client emails, end up shaping the work we ship — quietly, over months. We've retired a small list of words and phrases from our internal comms, and we'll list them here, with the reason each one earned its way out.
"Just"
"It's just a small change." "We just need to add this." "Just bump the version." The word just reduces estimated effort, hides complexity, and makes the person being asked feel small if they push back. We've found that almost nothing is "just." We say "only" when we mean small scope, and we say what the actual change is.
"Should be fine"
The phrase that has cost the software industry more nights of sleep than any other. Should be fine means we haven't tested it. We say "tested and verified" or "untested but expected to work — flagging" instead. The words pull us back to honesty.
"It's done"
Done is a vague status. Done in a draft branch is different from done in staging is different from done in production with monitoring on. We say what state it's in, and on which environment, and we add a single sentence about what would invalidate it.
"As discussed"
Almost always passive-aggressive. If we discussed it, restate the conclusion. If we didn't, don't pretend we did. The phrase has been replaced with "to recap" or "based on what we agreed on Tuesday" — small specificity, big trust gain.
"No worries"
This one is gentler. The phrase tells the recipient that there was a worry — which is information they didn't need. We say "got it" or "happy to", which carries the same warmth without planting the worry.
"Quick question"
Quick questions are rarely quick. Worse, the framing pressures the person being asked to give a fast answer to a question that may need thought. We just ask the question. If it's actually quick, the brevity will show without a label.
None of these are dramatic edits. The change is a slow one, and we've watched it work. Standups are clearer. PR reviews are more honest. Client emails read like the team thought about the words. Language is the cheapest tool we have for raising the standard of the work — and the only one that doesn't cost more on the next project.