List of 100 useful phrases for IT in English with examples of usage
How good is your English to communicate comfortably in a professional environment? Or just to perceive information on the topic you need from the original source?
To have a well-founded idea about this, I suggest using a guide of 100 words most frequently encountered in the topic of IT. This list was developed by me over 2 years of working with videos and articles from such publications as MIT, TechLife News, Bloomberg, Science Today, Harvard Business Review.
The words are divided into categories and each word has a description in English, a translation and an example of use. In some cases, a transcription is provided so that you pay attention to the correct pronunciation.
Is it possible to learn English from a word list? Of course not. But it can be used to estimate in percentage terms how many of the 100 you already know.
Important: Don't take the translation too literally and try to suggest your own based on the English description.
Tech Phrases Guide: 100 useful phrases in English with examples
Career in Tech
Tech – short for technical, relating to the knowledge, machines, or methods used in science and industry. Tech is a whole industry, which includes IT (Everything that falls within the IT sphere).
“As a DevOps engineer I have been working in Tech since 2020.”career path – the series of jobs or roles that constitute a person's career, especially one in a particular field (career path).
“Technology is an evolving field with a variety of available career paths.”pursue a career – actively work towards advancing and developing in a particular profession or field of work (build a career).“He is pursuing his career in tech.”
stakeholder – an, employee investor, customer, etc. who is involved in or buys from a business and has an interest in its success (interested party, co-owner).
“The interested stakeholders need to attend the meeting.”higher-up – a person in a company or organization who has a more important position than you have (chief, boss).
“They're still waiting for a decision about the extra money from the higher-ups.“big shot – a person or an organization with a lot of power or influence (big shot).
“He is trying to become a big shot in NVIDIA.”newbie / novice / newcomer – beginner, a person who has recently started a particular activity (beginner).
“The guide helps newbies understand the latest social networking sites and apps.”learn the ropes – to learn how to do a particular job or task (to understand, to master the basics).
“They have three weeks to learn the ropes before they start.”show/teach the ropes – to show someone how to do a job or activity (bring them up to date).
“I spent an afternoon showing the newcomer the ropes.”turning point in one's career – a time at which an important change takes place which affects the future of a person or thing (turning point).
“The turning point in her career was when she joined this company.”milestone – a significant event or stage in one's life (an important stage).
“Taking on the new responsibilities of a CTO was a milestone for John.”the ins and outs – the details about how something works or is done (subtleties, all the ins and outs).
“She knows the ins and outs of the platform.”embark on/upon something – to start something new or important (to start something, to get started on something).
“We've embarked on an exciting new project.”backer – a person who gives support to someone or something with money or words (trustee, sponsor).
“We need financial backers for the project.”side hustles – a job or occupation that brings in extra money beyond one's regular job and main source of income (part-time job).
“It's relatively easy to find a side hustle for a developer.”pet project – a personal or small-scale project that someone works on for their own enjoyment or to learn new skills (brainchild, own project)
“If you have a pet project connected with your profession, you should definitely add it to your CV.”gig /ɡɪɡ/ – a job, especially one that is temporary or freelance and performed on an informal or on-demand basis (project).
“Now his gig for a startup in Amsterdam is on hold.”
Being a partner
expertise in something or to do something /ˌek.spɝːˈtiːz/ – a high level of skill or knowledge (expertise in something).
“I have no expertise in cybersecurity.”to specialize in – to study or work on a particular subject or skill more than any others, so that you become an expert in it (specialize in something).
“The company specializes in customized computer systems.”to compete with/against somebody for something – to try to be more successful than someone or something else (to compete with someone for something).
“Thousands of applicants are competing for the same job.”hands-on experience – knowledge or skill that someone gets from doing something rather than just reading about it or seeing it being done (real, practical experience).
“He always said he learned more about coding from hands-on experience than he did in the classroom.”solid knowledge/understanding of something – a deep and comprehensive knowledge on a particular subject (deep knowledge).
“This course has been given to me a solid understanding of the principles of Python programming.”from scratch – completely from the beginning (from scratch, from the very beginning).
“Tech is considered to be the easiest career to start from scratch but I wouldn't agree with that.”to pivot – to change direction, opinions, statements, decisions (to turn, to unfold).
“One day I'll share how to make a successful career pivot.”to be in charge of something or something – to be responsible for something or someone (to be responsible).
“Who's in charge here?”
jack-of-all-trades – someone who can do many different jobs (jack of all trades).
“She became a jack-of-all-trades who could actually create new innovative products in the highly technical industry of scuba equipment.”code in programming language – to write computer programs (write code in a programming language).
“Can you code in JS? I need some help here.”stand out from – to attract attention, either for the way you look or behave, or because you perform better at something than other people do (stand out from).
“We had lots of good applicants for the job, but one stood out the rest.”set apart from – If a quality or characteristic sets someone or something apart, it shows him, her, or it to be different from, and usually better than, others of the same type (different from).
“What set her apart the other candidates for the job was that she had a lot of original ideas.”
versatile – able to do many different things or to adjust to new conditions, or (of things) able to be used for many different purposes (easily adaptable, changeable)
“He is a versatile specialist: he can code in many programming languages.”to be on call – to be ready to go to work or start working online at any time if needed, especially if there is an emergency (on duty, work on demand).
“Many Tech-engineers have to be on call even during vacation”.like the back of my hand – to know something completely (like the back of your hand).
“I know this system like the back of my hand.“to know one's stuff – to be an expert at something (to know your business).
“When it comes to coding, she really knows her stuff.”tech-savvy – having a good knowledge and understanding of modern technology, especially computers (well-versed in technology, on a first-name basis with technology).
“The city needs more tech-savvy workers for its hi-tech industries.”lose one's edge – to no longer have all the advantages and special skills that you had in the past (lose your grip).
“It's obvious that if you don't practice coding you might lose your edge.”non-techie – (of a person, job) not having or needing special knowledge about the machines, methods, etc. used in science and industry (not versed in technology).
“He is absolutely good at explaining complicated things to non-techies.“
geekspeak – slang jargon used by geeks, esp computer enthusiasts (talk of someone obsessed with something).
“Geek speak can be used to describe anything from a computer network or system to the latest tech gadgets and software.”
Using technologies and tech trends
to be in use – it is used regularly by people (to be applied, to be used)
“The new software update is currently in use by several departments, significantly improving their workflow.”out of use – to stop being used by people (obsolete, out of use).
“The older version of the application has been considered out of useas all users have migrated to the latest release.”gain traction – to begin to have success (to gain momentum, to play an increasingly important role).
“This trend in Tech is gaining traction.”
take advantage of something – to make good use of something (to take advantage of something, to one's advantage)
“In this article you'll learn 10 Ways to take advantage of technology in your business.“capitalize on – to get an advantage from something, such as an event or situation (to benefit from, to use to one's advantage).
“They were able to capitalize on our mistakes.”tap into – to manage to use something in a way that brings good results; to gain access to; become friendly with (take advantage of).
“If only we could tap into all that energy and creativity to launch the project.”brand new – completely new and unused (fundamentally new, new generation).
“We use a brand new approach.”
godsend -a desirable or needed thing or event that comes unexpectedly (salvation, gift from heaven).
“Zoom's been a godsend during the pandemic.”benchmark – something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or judged (standard, guideline).
“In the article you'll find out how to benchmark your Tech brand against competitors with 3 strategies.”showcase – to show (something or someone) in an attractive or favorable way (to demonstrate, to show from the most advantageous side).
“The team also hopes the project will showcase the positive side of artificial intelligence.”launch /lɔːn
