Reading through various career discussions online lately has brought up an interesting observation about how we use industry terminology, particularly the term “Big 4.” The phrase gets tossed around so casually in professional circles that we often forget it means different things to different people.

Working in tech, I’ve witnessed countless conversations derail because someone mentioned “Big 4” without context, leading to a comedy of errors where one person talks about bank transfers while another discusses audit schedules. It reminds me of a recent coffee catch-up with former colleagues where we spent a good ten minutes talking at cross-purposes before realizing we were discussing entirely different companies.