Ops Jargon Cheat Sheet: Decode the Most Common SRE Slang

1. Incident Jargon

P0/P1/P2 : Incident severity levels (P0 = catastrophic, P1 = major, P2 = minor).

Throw‑the‑pot meeting : Another name for a post‑mortem meeting, often with phrases like “legacy issue”.

Applause : Flooding the chat with clapping emojis after a P0 is resolved.

Offer a sacrifice : Reboot solves 95% of problems; if not, replace the machine.

2. Deployment Jargon

Canary release : Deploy to 5% of users first, dubbed “small‑traffic verification”.

Rollback : Urgent revert to the previous version when the new release breaks; slang “rollback, pretend we didn’t work overtime”. Includes “rocket rollback” (30 s emergency revert).

Full release : High‑risk launch that may end in celebration or all‑night bug fixing.

Fish‑hook deployment : Deploy after Friday work‑day ends, a tacit “slacking” agreement.

Dig a grave : Fixing an old bug that spawns a new issue.

3. Monitoring & Alert Jargon

Wolf is coming : After three false alarms, real alerts are ignored.

Grave‑code : Legacy logic running in production that nobody dares to touch.

CPU playing mahjong : CPU usage spikes to 100 %; related “memory dancing” = OOM warning.

Pull the network cable : Simulated network outage as a high‑end test.

Stargazing : Receiving an alert at night and pondering life.

4. System Maintenance Jargon

Reboot magic : The ultimate skill passed down from Windows 98.

Add machines : Throwing money at performance problems.

Ancestor config : Configuration whose documentation is lost and no one dares to change.

Pitch a tent : Throw‑away code written for a temporary need, destined to be torn down.

Technical debt : Short‑term shortcuts that become future liabilities.

Cold/Hot standby : Cold standby stops database service and backs up via file copy; hot standby backs up while the system remains online.

5. Self‑Deprecating Jargon

Human‑powered ops : No automation, everything done via WeChat and phone calls.

Buddha‑style on‑call : Let the alert resolve itself.

Resume‑oriented development : Using complex frameworks to solve simple problems for résumé points.

Grab the bucket and run : Leaving the job because of too many incidents.

Good karma : Working a P0 at midnight and the boss calls it a growth opportunity.