dogfooding

Register · Informal Informal — used in casual, everyday conversation among friends and family. Avoid in formal writing or professional settings. CEFR C1

Post

Figurative meaning

using your own product internally, before customers do, to test and improve it

Why this phrase?

From 1980s Microsoft folklore around the Alpo dog-food commercial slogan 'eat your own dog food': if you won't use your own product, why would anyone else?

Example

“The whole team has been dogfooding the new editor all sprint, so the release should be solid.”

Dictionary details

Alternate forms

eat your own dog food
eating our own dog food

Tags

Expressions connected by reviewed component words or topic tags.

feature creep Neutral · CEFR B2

the uncontrolled growth of new features until a product becomes bloated and hard to use

everything but the kitchen sink Informal · CEFR B1

an excessive collection of things; nearly everything imaginable, included without restraint

ship it Informal · CEFR B1

to release the product or feature now, as an imperative; to ship

band-aid fix Informal · CEFR B2

a hasty, temporary solution that patches a symptom without addressing the root cause

bells and whistles Informal · CEFR B2

extra, attractive but non-essential features added to a product

cut corners Neutral · CEFR B2

To do something cheaply or quickly by skipping important steps, often lowering quality.

Source methodology

Meanings, register, CEFR, and examples come from the reviewed dictionary record. Expression notes may describe a reviewed present-day word picture or a background note; they are not presented as verified etymology.

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