showstopper
ADSGarson O'Toole
adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sat Jun 21 03:59:37 UTC 2014
Lisa Galvin wrote
> In software development and testing "showstopper" is an official
> term for a priority-one defect/bug needing immediate attention.
Oxford Dictionaries (not OED) lists the relevant sense, and includes
the specialized software sense mentioned by Lisa Galvin.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/showstopper
showstopper noun
[Begin excerpt]
2. An obstacle to further progress: the subsidy limits proved to be a
showstopper for other senior Democrats who refused to pass the bill
with such restrictions
More example sentences
The weather wasn't perfect, but I quickly was learning that what
had been a showstopper in the RAG was daily business in the fleet.
[End excerpt]
[Begin excerpt]
2.1 Computing A bug that needs to be fixed before a piece of software
can be used or released: there were several last minute showstoppers
that derailed the Beta 2 rollout
More example sentences
There were a number of small bugs which weren't show stoppers but
concerned us nonetheless.
[End excerpt]
Merriam Webster lists the relevant sense:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/showstopper
[Begin excerpt]
3: one that stops or could stop the progress, operation, or
functioning of something
[End excerpt]
Garson
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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