Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector
A digital homage to Philip Broughton's 1968 satirical management-jargon matrix. Pick a three-digit code or hit Generate — you'll get a grammatically correct, authoritative-sounding phrase that means absolutely nothing.
Live at buzz.waynetellis.com
What it does
Three word matrices, three display skins, one joke that never gets old.
Modes
- Original (1968) — Broughton's own 10×10×10 matrix, unchanged
- Modern (2026) — the same structure, restocked with AI/agile/cloud vocabulary
- Chaos — both matrices combined; 8,000 combinations
Display skins
- Split-Flap — animated tile flip with Web Audio click synthesis
- Slot Machine — scrolling reels with bounce easing
- Dot-Matrix — typewriter character reveal with CRT scanline overlay
Other things it does
- Manual code entry: type
257 and press Enter to get a specific phrase
- Shareable URLs: every phrase is encoded in the address bar (
?code=257&mode=original)
- Space bar generates a new phrase
- Save phrases to a local favourites drawer (no account needed)
- Easter eggs: try
000 in each mode
Running it locally
npm install
npm run dev
Open http://localhost:3000.
npm run build # production build + TypeScript check
npm run lint # ESLint
npm test -- --run # Vitest unit tests
Stack
Next.js 16 App Router · React 19 · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS 4 · Vitest
No backend. All state is client-side (localStorage + URL params).
Verification
257 in Original mode → "systemised logistical projection"257 in Modern mode → "generative telemetry alignment"
Background
Philip Broughton published the original Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector in Time magazine on 13 May 1968. Frustrated by impenetrable bureaucratic language, he built a satirical matrix: any three-digit number maps to a phrase that sounds authoritative and says nothing.
"No-one will have the remotest idea of what you're talking about. But the important thing is that they're not going to admit it." — Philip Broughton, 1968
The Modern and Chaos modes are Wayne Ellis's additions — the same joke, updated for the era of AI, cloud, and agile frameworks.
