Etymologies...

From: Ward Donald Griffiths III <gram_at_cnct.com>
Date: Wed Jan 14 22:12:05 1998

PG Manney wrote:
>
> Where did the following terms come from?
>
> -Dongle

Probably from "dangle", as a couple of those damned things on a
parallel cord caused the cable to do so dangerously and with
frequent disconnects unless extra bits and pieces were bought to
tie them together.

> -Byte (named after nybble, or vice-versa?)

Byte came first. A nybble (originally spelled nibble even in the
computer trade) was half a byte -- a byte isn't derived from two
nybbles, ask Marv Albert.

> -Mainframe (Why not just...like..you know...call it a computer?)

Big iron had to be racked in frames that were left in one place,
even an industrial forklift couldn't move an assembled system in
one piece. Smaller peripherals could stand in standalone racks
(the old relay rack being the component of the frames), so the
central system was the "main frame".

> -DB (as in DB-15, 25) I've also heard them called D-sub xx)

Can't help there, funny code terms happen with connectors. The
"D" definitely refers to the shape, however.

> -Mouse

It's got a tail and it's small. And any cat with access to your
desk will inform you that it's a very appropriately named cat toy.
As I learned when I got my first 3B1.
-- 
Ward Griffiths
Dylan:  How many years must some people exist, 
			before they're allowed to be free?
WDG3rd:  If they "must" exist until they're "allowed",
			they'll never be free.
Received on Wed Jan 14 1998 - 22:12:05 GMT

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