Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

second-system effect

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.83 in modern English

Syllables: sec-ond-sys-tem -ef-fect
IPA

34

Scrabble Score

18

Letters

6

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be succeeded by overengineered, bloated systems, due to inflated expectations and overconfidence.

Etymology

Introduced by Fred Brooks in his book The Mythical Man-Month (1975).

Inflected Forms

second-system effects (plural)

Synonyms

second-system syndrome

Questions

What does second-system effect mean?: The tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be succeeded by overengineered, bloated systems, due to inflated expectations and overconfidence.
Where does second-system effect come from?: Introduced by Fred Brooks in his book The Mythical Man-Month (1975).

How to pronounce second-system effect

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