Good morning! Start your week strong with a focused session on Technical English for Developers. Today we tackle vocabulary that shows up in code reviews, PRs, Slack messages, and API docs — the language of your daily workflow.

Word of the Day: deprecate

IPA: /ˈdeprəkeɪt/ Vietnamese: loại bỏ dần / đánh dấu không còn hỗ trợ

To deprecate something in software means to mark it as outdated, discouraged, or slated for removal in a future version. The feature still works — but you’re signaling to developers: “Don’t use this anymore. We have something better.”

Example Sentences

  1. Code review comment:

    “We should deprecate this getUserById() method and migrate all callers to fetchUser() before the v3 release.”

  2. API documentation:

    “⚠️ This endpoint is deprecated as of API version 2.1. Please use /api/v3/users instead. Support will be removed in Q4 2026.”

  3. PR description:

    “This PR deprecates the legacy XML parser and replaces it with a streaming JSON handler, reducing memory usage by ~40%.”

Pronunciation Resources

Vocabulary Table — 5 Technical Phrases Developers Use Daily

TermVietnamese MeaningExample in Context
refactortái cấu trúc code (không thay đổi hành vi)“I’ll refactor the auth module this sprint — same behavior, cleaner structure.”
scaffoldtạo khung dự án tự động”Run npx create-next-app to scaffold a new project with all the boilerplate.”
stub outviết hàm placeholder chưa implement”Let’s stub out the payment handler for now so we can unblock the UI team.”
squash commitsgộp nhiều commit thành một”Before merging, please squash your commits into a single clean message.”
roll backhoàn nguyên về phiên bản trước”The deploy caused a spike in errors — let’s roll back to v2.4.1 immediately.”

Pronunciation Guide: Breaking Down “deprecate”

Syllable Breakdown

de · pre · cate
 ↑     ↑      ↑
 deh  pruh   kayt

Stress pattern: The primary stress falls on the first syllable — DEP-ruh-kayt.

IPA Breakdown

SymbolSoundHint
/ˈde/“deh”Like “debt” without the t
/prə/“pruh”Unstressed schwa — quick and soft
/keɪt/“kayt”Like the name “Kate”

Common Mispronunciation by Vietnamese Speakers

Vietnamese speakers often add equal stress to all syllables:

  • ❌ dep-RE-cate (wrong stress placement)
  • ❌ dep-reh-KATE (stress on last syllable)
  • ✅ DEP-ruh-kayt (stress on first syllable, middle is soft)

The middle syllable /prə/ uses the schwa sound — the most common vowel in English. It’s quick, relaxed, almost swallowed. Don’t over-pronounce it.

Practice Sentence

Say this aloud three times, stressing the first syllable:

“We need to DEP-ruh-kayt this endpoint before the next major release.”

Exercises

Exercise 1: Fill in the Blank

Choose the correct technical term: refactor / scaffold / stub out / squash / roll back / deprecate

  1. “The API key method is insecure. We need to _______ it and switch to OAuth tokens.”
  2. “Before the PR is merged, please _______ your 12 commits into one descriptive commit.”
  3. “The new feature is breaking prod — we need to _______ the deployment right now.”
  4. “I’ll _______ the database layer this week. No new features, just cleaner code.”
  5. “Use the CLI to _______ a new microservice with the standard folder structure.”
✅ Show Answers
  1. deprecate — marking it as outdated and signaling users to stop using it
  2. squash — combining commits before merging
  3. roll back — reverting to a previous stable version
  4. refactor — restructuring without changing behavior
  5. scaffold — auto-generating the project structure/boilerplate

Exercise 2: Translate to English

Translate these developer sentences from Vietnamese to English using today’s vocabulary.

  1. “Hàm này đã bị đánh dấu không còn hỗ trợ từ phiên bản 3.0, hãy dùng hàm mới.”
  2. “Trước khi merge, hãy gộp tất cả commit lại thành một commit rõ ràng.”
  3. “Team backend sẽ viết placeholder cho API đó trước để team frontend có thể tiếp tục.”
✅ Show Answers
  1. “This function has been deprecated since version 3.0 — please use the new one instead.”
  2. “Before merging, please squash all your commits into a single, descriptive commit.”
  3. “The backend team will stub out that API first so the frontend team can continue.”

Idiom of the Day: “Ship it”

“Ship it” Vietnamese: cứ release thôi / triển khai đi / deploy lên đi

“Ship it” is developer slang for “release it / deploy it / send it to production.” It’s often used when the team is overthinking or perfecting something that’s already good enough.

Usage Examples

  1. Slack message:

    “The feature’s been in review for two weeks. It’s good enough. Ship it. We can iterate after.”

  2. Code review response:

    “LGTM! Minor nit on variable naming but nothing blocking. Ship it and let’s see how users respond.”

The Culture Behind It: “Perfect is the enemy of good”

This English idiom (originally from Voltaire: “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien”) is deeply embedded in startup and agile culture. It means: waiting for perfection delays value delivery. In tech teams, “ship it” embodies this — trust your work, put it in front of users, and improve from real feedback. Done and deployed beats perfect and unreleased.

You’ll hear senior devs say: “We can always iterate. Just ship it.”

Build your developer English vocabulary with these channels:

ChannelWhy It Helps
TechLead (YouTube)Hear how senior engineers talk about architecture, career, and code in natural, professional English
FireshipFast-paced videos packed with real developer vocabulary — great for listening speed training
EngineerManCasual, conversational developer English — hear how devs actually talk in real projects

Tip: Watch with English subtitles (not Vietnamese). Pause on unfamiliar technical phrases and look them up. Replay hard sentences twice.

Morning Challenge

Write a fake PR description in English using at least 3 of today’s vocabulary words. Here’s a template to get started:

PR Title: [Your title here]

Description: This PR [what it does]. We [action] the [component] to [reason]. Before merging, [team instruction]. If anything breaks, we can [fallback].

Example Answer

PR Title: Deprecate legacy auth endpoint and scaffold new OAuth flow

Description: This PR deprecates the /api/login endpoint and scaffolds the new OAuth 2.0 authentication flow. I’ve stubbed out the token refresh handler so the mobile team can continue their work unblocked. Please squash your review commits before approving. If the OAuth provider is down during deploy, we can roll back to the previous auth method in under 5 minutes.

Great work this morning! You’ve added 6 technical terms to your active vocabulary. Use one of them in a real conversation or message today — that’s how they stick.

See you at noon for Communication & Phrases! 🚀

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