buzzword (redirected from cant)

A term that refers to the latest technology or a term that sounds catchy. If not a flash in the pan, new technologies become mainstream. For example, Java was a hot buzzword in the 1990s, but should remain a major topic for decades. Umbrella terms, such as "client/server," can be hot for several years, but eventually fade.

Some of the earlier buzzwords in the industry were MIS in the 1970s, distributed computing in the 1980s and client/server in the 1990s. The last half of the 1990s brought us all the Internet and Web terms, including Java, intranet and e-commerce.

More Current
More recent buzzwords are enterprise and Web services. Solutions is a buzzword that irritates a lot of people.

The word "nano" has been tacked onto numerous semiconductor and other manufacturing processes that deal in microscopic elements, whether they are, in fact, nano-sized or not. Some companies have even made "nano" part of their corporate name even though they have nothing to do with nano-sized devices. See nanotechnology.

Currently, SOA and Web 2.0 are trendy. See buzzword compliant.