[csours]

> I also see it used in smaller companies by bosses who want to simulate the effects of a person quitting, and how confident the rest of the team are to take over the running of a task.

Aka the Bus Factor. What if our lead engineer takes a bus out of town (or the darker version).

Even in large companies, work is done by teams and those teams are susceptible to this problem as well.

[jedberg]

> What if our lead engineer takes a bus out of town

HA! I've never heard this version of it. I've only ever heard the dark version. I like this better.

[csours]

Coming up with euphemisms is my hobby. No one can tell when I'm being mean now.

disgusting food -> interesting and unique flavor profile

bad movie -> the director made decisions that challenge audience expectations

take your crazy pills -> I had not heard of that before

and of course the Southern classic

you idiot -> bless your heart (this one doesn't really work anymore because people know it)

Edit: I remembered another one:

Resting B*tch Face -> Resting Business Face.

[sokoloff]

"Good For You!" is code for "Go F** Yourself!" in some circles. (would become the same three-letter acronym)

I'd heard it through two different management consultancy sources, but that could easily have a common root, of course.

[thrillgore]

Alternatively, "Pull Requests Welcome" is also code for "Go f*** yourself."

[tb_technical]

In some communities "Go f** yourself!" is code for "see ya later!", also.

[cosmodisk]

We used to have a Scotsman as a site manager. Every single day when we were wrapping for a day, he used to say: well, fuck off now! Nice bloke.

[cosmodisk]

Are you planning to live in England by any chance?:)

[rootsudo]

Sigh.

[yeasurebut]

With respect; a lot of us out here know and used many of those the same way; we’re silently aware of the intent. I used to be that way. Over time feeling the need to fake it fell away; now I just mock everyone through muted indifference and a shrug, “good job at being a member of social life like everyone else” kind of energy.

Emotional archetypes are limited. You have borrowed others ideas because that’s how it works; you memorized such emotional states from others. Awareness of such emotional state is not yours alone.

See. That’s how you put someone down. Directly. Not through passive aggressive southerner classics. You’re far too obvious to those who have diverse real world experience and just come off as a cliche. But we silently eye roll rather than validate such antics through feedback, good or bad.

[csours]

I read this comment with a Werner Herzog accent. I hope that's ok with you.

[ls15]

The best response to passive aggressive attacks is their own echo.

I try to be like "ok, let's get back to the topic"

[packetslave]

bless your heart.

[ok_dad]

I used to say, "in case I fall off a cliff," and then in a previous job a colleague went mountain climbing and literally fell to his death off a cliff. Now I just say, "for when I'm not around."

[mgkimsal]

Similar here. 2000/2001(?), I was talking about the bus factor with a client, indicating that I'd brought on a couple more folks on my team - one part time, one full time, to avoid the bus factor.

"what do you mean?"

"oh, in case I get hit by a bus"

Silence.

Someone in their company had been hit by a bus and died a couple weeks earlier. Not in their department - it wasn't a direct friend/colleague - but it was... awkward enough that I didn't use that phrase again for a long time. And even when I do, I tend to catch myself before and rephrase it.

[csours]

Holy crap!

[hirundo]

> (or the darker version)

I default to, what if Bob wins the lottery?

[aerostable_slug]

Or moves to China...

I was working with an IoT company who proudly showed us, their biggest customer, how the signing keys to particular actions that could impact many, many people were held on a rather trick little Spyrus USB stick. Which they displayed. In the pocket of a person that had the requisite passphrases to access it all on her own.

I asked what would prevent the person from hopping a plane out of nearby SFO and having a pleasant CCP-funded retirement and they turned all sorts of colors. They invested in a proper storage mechanism (and key management processes) after that.

[eru]

Funny thing, you can actually use USB sticks and passphrases like they did. But you need to have multi-party signing.

Eg make it so that 10 out of 15 people employees need to sign.