Feature not a bug

“A feature, not a bug” describes something that seems like a flaw, but is in fact intentional.

Today's story: Vaccine questions
Explore more: Lesson #357
Keywords:

Be your best self in English

Move confidently through the English-speaking world

Listen

  • Learning speed
  • Full speed

Learn

TranscriptQuizYour turn
Simple TranscriptEspañol中文FrançaisPortuguês日本語ItalianoDeutschTürkçePolski

A feature not a bug

Today’s expression is rare. You’ll almost never need to use this phrase. No, I’ll correct that: you will never need to use this expression. But if the right moment ever comes, and if you use this correctly, then you’ll sound really smart, and that’s what we are here to help you do.

The expression is “a feature, not a bug.” We use this expression to describe something that seems like a flaw, but is in fact intentional. A flaw is a mistake or a disadvantage. This is usually used in the context of a product or service produced by a company. The customers find something they don’t like—a flaw—and they complain about it. They wish it were not there. But in fact , the company designed it that way on purpose. When that happens, we say that it’s a feature, not a bug.

A bug—this a term from computers—a bug is like a mistake in computer code. The mistake causes the computer program to malfunction or produce an error. That’s a bug in the code. I use a Roku to watch TV and the different streaming services have apps. The baseball app was updated before the season and there were a few bugs in the app. The app just quit unexpectedly. But they released a new version and they fixed all the bugs. They fixed all the errors that were causing the app to malfunction.

A feature is, of course, a benefit of a product. So let’s start with a few easy examples of how you can describe something as a feature and not a bug.

Some users of Netflix may find they have to respond to a text message verification code when they access their accounts in the future. How annoying! Boy, Netflix is really making this tough on us. They must not realize how annoying it is to have to take the extra step to enter a text code just to open and use Netflix on our phones, computers, or TV streaming sticks.

No, no, no. This is a feature, not a bug. You see, Netflix is trying to crack down on people sharing accounts outside their household. You, as a user, may not like this. You, as a user, may think this is some annoying thing that Netflix didn’t mean to impose on you. But in fact Netflix is doing this on purpose. They are doing it to prevent password sharing. So the next time you hear someone complain that Netflix is really inconveniencing them by making them respond to a security verification, you can say, “That’s a feature, not a bug. They’re just trying to crack down on password sharing.”

A few months ago, we talked about Wikipedia . When Wikipedia started, people couldn’t believe that just anyone could write articles. People said, hey we love this idea. But I don’t know about letting just anyone write and edit articles. Wikipedia would be better if it weren’t open-source. Wikipedia would be better if there were a small number of editors writing all the articles. But as we know, the whole idea behind Wikipedia is that anyone could write and edit articles. The open-source nature was not a flaw in the system—that was the way the system was designed. So the open-source model for Wikipedia is a feature, not a bug.

Now let’s take this out of the technology world. One of the very first mass-produced cars was the Ford Model T. There’s an old joke that says you could get the Ford Model T in any color you want, as long as you wanted it in black. You can imagine consumers thinking, that’s annoying! I wish they could make it in a wide variety of colors. I want to customize my car. This sounds like a flaw in the system, Mr. Henry Ford. But in fact the limited selection was a feature, not a bug of the Model T. The entire innovation of the Model T was that every single one was identical. Only then could they sell a car that an average middle class household could afford.

Now let’s look at an example from human biology. Remember, we’re talking about something that seems like a flaw, but is in fact done intentionally or has a higher purpose. Have you ever had pain in your joints? Or, pain anywhere in your body? Have you ever thought, I just wish this would go away. I just wish I didn’t have to live with pain. But the sensation of pain is a feature, not a bug of human anatomy. You hate it when you experience it. But it’s necessary for survival.

Without the sensation of pain, we would be less careful with our bodies. We’d burn our skin, we’d hit our heads, we’d overuse our muscles, we’d put too much load on our joints. Pain is an essential signal from our body parts to our brains. I hate it. We all hate it when we experience it. But this is not a flaw in human anatomy. This isn’t something going wrong. This is something going right. It’s working as intended. It is a feature, not a bug of human anatomy.

All right, so do you remember how you heard it earlier in today’s lesson? We were talking about the side effects of the coronavirus vaccines. Why do you get these side effects? It’s so annoying. You’re getting a vaccine to prevent disease, not cause it! Why can’t they just make vaccines that are free of side effects?

You know where this is going. The side effects are a feature, not a bug. The vaccine is intended to activate your immune system. The whole purpose of the vaccine is to make your body’s immune system jump into action and get ready to fight a disease. That disease isn’t there now, but it might be coming someday. So of course your body is going to start acting like it’s sick. And when your body acts like it’s getting sick, you start to feel side effects. The side effects might be unpleasant. We might not want to live through them in the moment. But they are not an unintended consequence. You get them for a good reason. So we say the side effects are a feature and not a bug

Now remember, you’ll never absolutely need to use this phrase. But if you ever hear, now you’ll know what the person is saying. And if you are ever in a situation where someone is complaining about something, which you know is intended and serves a purpose, you can say “that’s a feature, not a bug.”

JR’s song of the week

Time for JR’s song of the week. It’s “Heat Waves” by the Glass Animals. It’s the biggest hit from the Glass Animals to date. The frontman for the band, Dave Bayley, said he wrote the song in an hour late at night, after a long day of not coming up with any good ideas. Sometimes it happens that way, right, you just get a burst of innovation. And that’s what happened with this one. Check it out, “Heat Waves” by the Glass Animals.

See you next time!

That’s it for today! Congratulations on reaching the end of this very long less. Go get your shot when it’s your turn. Schedule a day or two for recovery from side effects. And let’s all be thankful that we live in an age where so much is known about disease and prevention. For those of you not yet able to get vaccinated, hang in there. Your day will come and when it does, it will feel great. See you next week: stay healthy!

Learn more expressions like this

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Starter feature

Test your knowledge

Take a 4-question quiz to make sure you understand today’s Expression

Plus+ feature

Write a sentence with this Expression

Get personal, human feedback on the examples that you write. Build the confidence to use this Expression in the real world

Story: Vaccine questions