SAY WHAT
YOU MEAN.
A working dictionary of the recurring nouns, verbs, and proper nouns of the era. Updated when the era updates.
CYBERTRUCK PANEL GAP
The variable distance between two adjacent pieces of stainless steel that, in theory, were cut by the same machine. A unit of cosmic disappointment.
DOGECOIN
A cryptocurrency originally launched as a joke in 2013, later treated as monetary policy by people with very real money.
FALCON 9
A two-stage orbital launch vehicle. Genuinely impressive. Often deployed as evidence in unrelated arguments.
FIRST-PRINCIPLES THINKING
The act of reasoning from foundational truths rather than analogy. In practice, a phrase often used to justify ignoring the people who already tried it.
HYPERLOOP (n.)
A 2013 white paper that successfully delayed the construction of high-speed rail in California by approximately a decade.
NEURALINK
A neurotech company building brain-computer interfaces. Best known publicly for monkey demos and recurring monkey demos.
OPTIMUS
A humanoid robot intended to do useful work, currently best known for dance routines, hand gestures, and the careful staging of both.
ROBOTAXI
A self-driving taxi. Announced annually. See: 'Press release.'
STARLINK
A low-earth-orbit satellite internet constellation. Also: a piece of geopolitical infrastructure owned by one person.
STARSHIP
An in-development heavy-lift vehicle. Frequently exploded on schedule, which is a kind of progress.
THE BORING COMPANY
A tunneling venture whose primary output, by surface area, is concept renderings.
THE EVERYTHING APP
A category of software product that promises to replace every other app you use. Historically: zero successful examples in the West.
TWITTER FILES
An ongoing genre of selectively curated internal documents released as journalism, intended as exoneration.
VERY MUSK EDITION
A TYVM design system used on limited-edition drops. Circuit traces, version numbers, pointer cursors. VER_2.0_PERF.
X (THE EVERYTHING APP)
Formerly Twitter. Currently undergoing rebranding as a payment processor, dating service, and legal liability.
ZIP2
The 1995 startup, less famous than the man who left it. The original of the type.