Hacker News story: Ask HN: How do you explain tech debt (to non-techs)?

Ask HN: How do you explain tech debt (to non-techs)?
Tech debt is often a taboo. Talking about it can be bad and arguing for addressing it can be worse. But I'm not sure everyone talks about "tech debt" in the same way. I've seen people use it as excuses for "time on what I want to do" and definitely seen management refuse it for that reason. But I've also seen management refuse addressing it to the detriment of the product/project. So what, actually, is it? And how do you explain it? 5 comments on Hacker News.
Tech debt is often a taboo. Talking about it can be bad and arguing for addressing it can be worse. But I'm not sure everyone talks about "tech debt" in the same way. I've seen people use it as excuses for "time on what I want to do" and definitely seen management refuse it for that reason. But I've also seen management refuse addressing it to the detriment of the product/project. So what, actually, is it? And how do you explain it?