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0 pointsdwb1mo ago0 comments

Both you and the Collins dictionary (merely one dictionary, not an absolute anuthority) are retconning. “Vibe coding”, as originally coined in this tweet, means something more specific: to generate code with LLMs and not really look at the output. The term itself suggests this too: reviewing code is not exactly a vibes-based activity, is it?

https://xcancel.com/karpathy/status/1886192184808149383

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tovej1mo ago

Here's Merriam Webster with the same definition: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vibe%20coding

That tweet coins the term, we agree there. The activity it describes is using natural language to generate software. Whether you add a review process or not doesn't substantially change that. Sure, Karpathy says he doesn't "read the diffs anymore". Why does he say "anymore"? Clearly he was reading them at some point. If not reading any diffs was a core part of the activity, that wouldn't be the case, the tweet itself clearly outlines that as optional. He's clearly not talking about a core part of the activity.

dwbOP1mo ago

I think the tweet is pretty clear on its intention for the definition and I’m not interested in arguing about it.

I do think the dictionary definitions, such as they are, are coming from a real place: some people do use the more general definition. And you seem to already know about both definitions. So why argue so belligerently and definitively in the first place? Parent comments you were replying to were obviously using the original definition. Talking about “retconning” is obviously silly given this timeline. Meaning in language is not a race to be the first to make it into a dictionary. It’s a very new phenomenon that new terms make it so quickly into a dictionary at all, and they’re always under review. So maybe factor that into your commentary?

tovej1mo ago

Because I believe the broad definition is more widely used, I also don't think the narrow term is useful or meaningful, and I think it's being used purely by vibe coding practitioners who feel that the term has negative connotations.

This all started with the parent comment telling someone else (belligerently and definitively) using the broader definition that they were wrong.

dwbOP1mo ago

The narrow term is very useful, there is obviously a world of difference between reviewing the output of an LLM and not - the latter is irresponsible. It shouldn’t be surprising that people bristle when being accused of it. It doesn’t make sense to accuse someone of redefining a term to make themselves feel better when the history of the term shows that yours is the redefinition. The simpler explanation is that the accused just doesn’t like being called irresponsible - not that they’re trying to defend LLM code generation from someone who doesn’t like it.

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tovej1mo ago

Here's Merriam Webster with the same definition: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vibe%20coding

dwbOP1mo ago

I think the tweet is pretty clear on its intention for the definition and I’m not interested in arguing about it.

tovej1mo ago

This all started with the parent comment telling someone else (belligerently and definitively) using the broader definition that they were wrong.

dwbOP1mo ago

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