Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

it's not a bug, it's a feature

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.10 in modern English

Syllables: it's not a bug, it's a fea-ture
IPA

27

Scrabble Score

21

Letters

2

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

What one user may consider a software bug, other users may consider to be a useful feature or an intentional consequence of the system's design.

phrase

A self-deprecating response when confronted by a bug in the software that one is authored or is introducing to another user.

Humorous

phrase

Affirms the validity of a counterintuitive behavior within a system; it is by design.

Example Sentences

"One annoyance, or maybe it’s one of those “it’s-not-a-bug-it’s-a-feature” situations, is the gearshift."
"“It is a feature, not a bug of Article 3 that the courts grant relief for the people in front of them,” Sauer said."

Etymology

Coined by American computer programmer Sandra Lee Harris in 1971 at Digital Equipment Corporation.

Usage

Humorous

Inflected Forms

INABIAF (alternative) it's a feature, not a bug (alternative)

Phrases

one man's trash is another man's treasure

Frequently Paired Words

one man's trash is another man's treasure

Questions

What does it's not a bug, it's a feature mean?: What one user may consider a software bug, other users may consider to be a useful feature or an intentional consequence of the system's design.
Where does it's not a bug, it's a feature come from?: Coined by American computer programmer Sandra Lee Harris in 1971 at Digital Equipment Corporation.

How to pronounce it's not a bug, it's a feature

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