The letter B

• back door n. A hole in the security of a system deliberately left
• backbone cabal n. A group of large-site administrators who pushed
• backbone site n. A key USENET and email site; one that processes
• backgammon See bignum (sense 3), moby (sense 4), and
• background n.,adj.,vt. To do a task `in background' is to do
• backspace and overstrike interj. Whoa! Back up. Used to suggest
• backward combatability /bak'w*rd k*m-bat'*-bil'*-tee/ [from
• BAD /B-A-D/ [IBM acronym, `Broken As Designed'] adj. Said
• Bad Thing [from the 1930 Sellar & Yeatman parody "1066 And
• bag on the side n. An extension to an established hack that is
• bagbiter /bag'bit-*r/ n. 1. Something, such as a program or a
• bagbiting adj. Having the quality of a bagbiter. "This
• bamf /bamf/ 1. [from old X-Men comics] interj. Notional sound
• banana label n. The labels often used on the sides of macrotape
• banana problem n. [from the story of the little girl who said "I
• bandwidth n. 1. Used by hackers (in a generalization of its
• bang 1. n. Common spoken name for `!' (ASCII 0100001),
• bang on vt. To stress-test a piece of hardware or software "I
• bang path n. An old-style UUCP electronic-mail address specifying
• banner n. 1. The title page added to printouts by most print
• bar /bar/ n. 1. The second metasyntactic variable, after foo
• bare metal n. 1. New computer hardware, unadorned with such
• barf /barf/ [from mainstream slang meaning `vomit']
• barfmail n. Multiple bounce messages accumulating to the
• barfulation /bar`fyoo-lay'sh*n/ interj. Variation of barf
• barfulous /bar'fyoo-l*s/ adj. (alt. `barfucious',
• barney n. In Commonwealth hackish, `barney' is to fred
• baroque adj. Feature-encrusted; complex; gaudy; verging on
• BASIC [acronym, from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction
• batch adj. 1. Non-interactive. Hackers use this somewhat more
• bathtub curve n. Common term for the curve (resembling an
• baud /bawd/ [simplified from its technical meaning] n. Bits per
• baud barf /bawd barf/ n. The garbage one gets on the monitor
• baz /baz/ n. 1. The third metasyntactic variable "Suppose we
• bboard /bee'bord/ [contraction of `bulletin board'] n.
• BBS /B-B-S/ [abbreviation, `Bulletin Board System'] n. An electronic
• beam [from Star Trek Classic's "Beam me up, Scotty!"] vt. To
• beanie key [Mac users] n. See command key.
• beep n.,v. Syn. feep. This term seems to be preferred among micro
• beige toaster n. A Macintosh. See toaster; compare
• bells and whistles [by analogy with the toyboxes on theater
• bells, whistles, and gongs n. A standard elaborated form of
• benchmark [techspeak] n. An inaccurate measure of computer
• Berkeley Quality Software adj. (often abbreviated `BQS') Term used
• berklix /berk'liks/ n.,adj. [contraction of `Berkeley UNIX'] See
• Berzerkeley /b*r-zer'klee/ [from `berserk', via the name of a
• beta /bay't*/, /be't*/ or (Commonwealth) /bee't*/ n.
• BFI /B-F-I/ n. See brute force and ignorance. Also
• bible n. 1. One of a small number of fundamental source books
• BiCapitalization n. The act said to have been performed on
• BIFF /bif/ [USENET] n. The most famous pseudo, and the
• biff /bif/ vt. To notify someone of incoming mail. From the
• Big Gray Wall n. What faces a VMS user searching for
• big iron n. Large, expensive, ultra-fast computers. Used generally
• Big Red Switch [IBM] n. The power switch on a computer, esp. the
• Big Room, the n. The extremely large room with the blue ceiling
• big win n. Serendipity. "Yes, those two physicists discovered
• big-endian [From Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" via the famous
• bignum /big'nuhm/ [orig. from MIT MacLISP] n. 1. [techspeak] A
• bigot n. A person who is religiously attached to a particular
• bit [from the mainstream meaning and `Binary digIT'] n.
• bit bang n. Transmission of data on a serial line, when
• bit bashing n. (alt. `bit diddling' or bit twiddling) Term
• bit bucket n. 1. The universal data sink (originally, the
• bit decay n. See bit rot. People with a physics background
• bit rot n. Also bit decay. Hypothetical disease the existence
• bit twiddling n. 1. (pejorative) An exercise in tuning (see
• bit-paired keyboard n. obs. (alt. `bit-shift keyboard') A
• bitblt /bit'blit/ n. [from BLT, q.v.] 1. Any of a family
• BITNET /bit'net/ [acronym Because It's Time NETwork] n.
• bits n.pl. 1. Information. Examples "I need some bits about file
• bitty box /bit'ee boks/ n. 1. A computer sufficiently small,
• bixie /bik'see/ n. Variant emoticons used on BIX (the Byte
• black art n. A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by
• black hole n. What a piece of email or netnews has fallen into if
• black magic n. A technique that works, though nobody really
• blargh /blarg/ [MIT] n. The opposite of ping, sense 5; an
• blast 1. vt.,n. Synonym for BLT, used esp. for large data
• blat n. 1. Syn. blast, sense 1. 2. See thud.
• bletch /blech/ [from Yiddish/German `brechen', to vomit, poss.
• bletcherous /blech'*-r*s/ adj. Disgusting in design or
• blinkenlights /blink'*n-litz/ n. Front-panel diagnostic lights
• blit /blit/ vt. 1. To copy a large array of bits from one part
• blitter /blit'r/ n. A special-purpose chip or hardware system
• blivet /bliv'*t/ [allegedly from a World War II military term
• BLOB [acronym, Binary Large OBject] n. Used by database people to
• block [from process scheduling terminology in OS theory] 1. vi.
• block transfer computations [from the television series
• Bloggs Family, the n. An imaginary family consisting of Fred and
• blow an EPROM /bloh *n ee'prom/ v. (alt. `blast an EPROM',
• blow away vt. To remove (files and directories) from permanent
• blow out [prob. from mining and tunneling jargon] vi. Of
• blow past vt. To blow out despite a safeguard. "The server blew
• blow up vi. 1. [scientific computation] To become unstable. Suggests
• BLT /B-L-T/, /bl*t/ or (rarely) /belt/ n.,vt. Synonym for
• Blue Book n. 1. Informal name for one of the three standard
• Blue Glue [IBM] n. IBM's SNA (Systems Network Architecture), an
• blue goo n. Term for `police' nanobots intended to prevent
• blue wire [IBM] n. Patch wires added to circuit boards at the factory to
• blurgle /bler'gl/ [Great Britain] n. Spoken {metasyntacticvariable}
• BNF /B-N-F/ n. 1. [techspeak] Acronym for `Backus-Naur Form', a
• boa [IBM] n. Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the floor
• board n. 1. In-context synonym for bboard; sometimes used
• boat anchor n. 1. Like doorstop but more severe; implies
• BOF /B-O-F/ or /bof/ n. Abbreviation for the phrase "Birds
• bogo-sort /boh`goh-sort'/ n. (var. `stupid-sort') The
• bogometer /boh-gom'-*t-er/ n. A notional instrument for
• bogon /boh'gon/ [by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but
• bogon filter /boh'gon fil'tr/ n. Any device, software or hardware,
• bogon flux /boh'gon fluhks/ n. A measure of a supposed field of
• bogosity /boh-go's*-tee/ n. 1. The degree to which something is
• bogotify /boh-go't*-fi/ vt. To make or become bogus. A
• bogue out /bohg owt/ vi. To become bogus, suddenly and
• bogus adj. 1. Non-functional. "Your patches are bogus."
• Bohr bug /bohr buhg/ [from quantum physics] n. A repeatable
• boink /boynk/ [USENET variously ascribed to the TV series
• bomb 1. v. General synonym for crash (sense 1) except that
• bondage-and-discipline language A language (such as Pascal,
• bonk/oif /bonk/, /oyf/ interj. In the MUD community, it
• book titles There is a tradition in hackerdom of informally
• boot [techspeak; from `by one's bootstraps'] v.,n. To load and
• bottom feeder n. Syn. for slopsucker, derived from the
• bottom-up implementation n. Hackish opposite of the techspeak term
• bounce v. 1. [perhaps by analogy to a bouncing check] An
• bounce message [UNIX] n. Notification message returned to sender
• boustrophedon [from a Greek word for turning like an ox while
• box n. 1. A computer; esp. in the construction `foo box'
• boxed comments n. Comments (explanatory notes attached to program
• boxen /bok'sn/ [by analogy with VAXen] pl.n. Fanciful
• boxology /bok-sol'*-jee/ n. Syn. ASCII art. This term
• bozotic /boh-zoh'tik/ or /boh-zo'tik/ [from the name of a TV
• BQS /B-Q-S/ adj. Syn. Berkeley Quality Software.
• brain dump n. The act of telling someone everything one knows
• brain fart n. The actual result of a braino, as opposed to
• brain-damaged 1. [generalization of `Honeywell Brain Damage'
• brain-dead adj. Brain-damaged in the extreme. It tends to imply
• braino /bray'no/ n. Syn. for thinko. See also {brainfart}
• branch to Fishkill [IBM from the location of one of the
• bread crumbs n. Debugging statements inserted into a program that
• break 1. vt. To cause to be broken (in any sense). "Your latest
• break-even point n. in the process of implementing a new computer
• breath-of-life packet [XEROX PARC] n. An Ethernet packet that
• breedle n. See feep.
• bring X to its knees v. To present a machine, operating system,
• brittle adj. Said of software that is functional but easily
• broadcast storm n. An incorrect packet broadcast on a network that
• brochureware n. Planned but non-existent product like
• broken adj. 1. Not working properly (of programs). 2. Behaving
• broken arrow [IBM] n. The error code displayed on line 25 of a
• broket /broh'k*t/ or /broh'ket`/ [by analogy with `bracket' a
• Brooks's Law prov. "Adding manpower to a late software project
• BRS /B-R-S/ n. Syn. Big Red Switch. This abbreviation is
• brute force adj. Describes a primitive programming style, one in
• brute force and ignorance n. A popular design technique at many
• BSD /B-S-D/ n. [abbreviation for `Berkeley System Distribution'] a
• BUAF // [abbreviation, from alt.fan.warlord] n. Big
• BUAG // [abbreviation, from alt.fan.warlord] n. Big Ugly
• bubble sort n. Techspeak for a particular sorting technique in
• bucky bits /buh'kee bits/ n. 1. obs. The bits produced by the
• buffer overflow n. What happens when you try to stuff more data
• bug n. An unwanted and unintended property of a program or piece
• bug-compatible adj. Said of a design or revision that has been
• bug-for-bug compatible n. Same as bug-compatible, with the
• buglix /buhg'liks/ n. Pejorative term referring to DEC's ULTRIX
• bulletproof adj. Used of an algorithm or implementation
• bum 1. vt. To make highly efficient, either in time or space,
• bump vt. Synonym for increment. Has the same meaning as
• burble [from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"] v. Like flame,
• buried treasure n. A surprising piece of code found in some
• burn-in period n. 1. A factory test designed to catch systems
• burst page n. Syn. banner, sense 1.
• busy-wait vi. Used of human behavior, conveys that the subject is
• buzz vi. 1. Of a program, to run with no indication of progress
• BWQ /B-W-Q/ [IBM abbreviation, `Buzz Word Quotient'] The
• by hand adv. 1. Said of an operation (especially a repetitive,
• byte /bit/ [techspeak] n. A unit of memory or data equal to
• bytesexual /bit`sek'shu-*l/ adj. Said of hardware, denotes
• bzzzt, wrong /bzt rong/ [USENET/Internet] From a Robin Williams

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The letter C