bulshytt

From IndieWeb


bulshytt means words, phrases, or even entire paragraphs which are misleading or empty in meaning. The term bulshytt was invented by Neal Stephenson in his novel Anathem:

Bulshytt is a term used to describe words, phrases, or even entire paragraphs which are misleading or empty in meaning. These terms are often listed as features of products[1]

In the IndieWeb context, we can use it to list and debunk qualifying statements from silos about how open they are, or debunk uses of corpo-think buzzwords like "roadmap" which don't refer to actual roads, maps, or maps of roads.

Criticism

I disagree. I think using misspelled cuss words is bullshit. Everyone already knows what "bullshit" means. Everyone already uses "bullshit". It's a cow path that's already been paved. — Shane Becker

  • Response: "bullshit" is a "slang profanity", whereas "bulshytt" has a more specific and useful definition in critical discourse (as quote above). - Tantek
  • Response: additionally "bullshit" has ambiguity. People use it to mean lying "don't bullshit me, man" but also to describe things as poorly made or something one disagrees with "Facebook's API restrictions are bullshit" and of course, the literal definition if you come from cattle country ;) bnvk
  • Response: +1 to Shane's comment. This definition doesn't seem to clarify anything that most wouldn't already understand, and presuming the pronunciation is the same, I don't see the point. gRegor Morrill

See Also