Ambiguous
vs vagueOpen to more than one real interpretation, not just short on detail.
“The ticket is ambiguous — it could mean input validation or output sanitization, and both readings are valid.”
vague“The ticket is vague — it just says "improve performance" with no target, no page, and no deadline.”
Redundant
vs repetitiveNo longer needed because something else already covers it.
“Now that the gateway handles auth, this check in the service layer is redundant.”
repetitive“Standup has gotten repetitive — we give the same updates, in the same order, every single day.”
Mitigate
vs eliminateReduce the likelihood or impact of a risk — not remove it.
“A canary rollout mitigates the outage risk. It doesn't eliminate it.”
eliminate“Deleting the unused endpoint eliminates that attack surface entirely.”
Bottleneck
vs blockerThe single constraint limiting the whole system's throughput.
“The review queue is the bottleneck, not headcount.”
blocker“The missing API key is a blocker — nothing moves until security issues it.”
Brittle
vs fragileWorks today but breaks easily under small changes or edge cases.
“The migration script is brittle — one schema change and it fails silently.”
fragile“Morale is fragile after the reorg, so let's deliver the headcount news in person.”
Explain the difference between "ambiguous" and "vague" using a real ticket or spec you've seen. No "um," no restarting the sentence — if you stumble, pause silently instead.