bogon
2 definitions found
bogon - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :
bogon
/boh'gon/ [by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but
doubtless reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas
Adams's "Vogons"] 1. The elementary particle of bogosity (see
quantum bogodynamics). For instance, "the Ethernet is
emitting bogons again" means that it is broken or acting in an
erratic or bogus fashion.
2. A query packet sent from a TCP/IP domain resolver to
a root server, having the reply bit set instead of the query
bit.
3. Any bogus or incorrectly formed packet sent on a network.
4. A person who is bogus or who says bogus things. This was
historically the original usage, but has been overtaken by its
derivative senses. See also bogosity; compare psyton,
fat electrons, magic smoke.
The bogon has become the type case for a whole bestiary of
nonce particle names, including the "clutron" or "cluon"
(indivisible particle of cluefulness, obviously the
antiparticle of the bogon) and the futon (elementary particle
of randomness, or sometimes of lameness). These are not so
much live usages in themselves as examples of a live
meta-usage: that is, it has become a standard joke or
linguistic maneuver to "explain" otherwise mysterious
circumstances by inventing nonce particle names. And these
imply nonce particle theories, with all their dignity or lack
thereof (we might note parenthetically that this is a
generalisation from "(bogus particle) theories" to "bogus
(particle theories)"!). Perhaps such particles are the
modern-day equivalents of trolls and wood-nymphs as standard
starting-points around which to construct explanatory myths.
Of course, playing on an existing word (as in the "futon")
yields additional flavour.
[Jargon File]
bogon - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :
bogon
/boh'gon/, n.
[very common; by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but doubtless
reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas Adams's `Vogons';
see the Bibliography in Appendix C and note that Arthur Dent actually
mispronounces `Vogons' as `Bogons' at one point]
1. The elementary particle of bogosity (see quantum bogodynamics).
For instance, "the Ethernet is emitting bogons again" means that it
is
broken or acting in an erratic or bogus fashion.
2. A query packet sent from a TCP/IP domain resolver to a root
server,
having the reply bit set instead of the query bit.
3. Any bogus or incorrectly formed packet sent on a network.
4. By synecdoche, used to refer to any bogus thing, as in "I'd like
to
go to lunch with you but I've got to go to the weekly staff bogon".
5. A person who is bogus or who says bogus things. This was
historically the original usage, but has been overtaken by its
derivative senses 1--4. See also bogosity, bogus; compare
psyton, fat electrons, magic smoke.
The bogon has become the type case for a whole bestiary of nonce
particle names, including the `clutron' or `cluon' (indivisible
particle of cluefulness, obviously the antiparticle of the bogon) and
the futon (elementary particle of randomness, or sometimes of
lameness). These are not so much live usages in themselves as
examples
of a live meta-usage: that is, it has become a standard joke or
linguistic maneuver to "explain" otherwise mysterious circumstances
by
inventing nonce particle names. And these imply nonce particle
theories, with all their dignity or lack thereof (we might note
parenthetically that this is a generalization from "(bogus particle)
theories" to "bogus (particle theories)"!). Perhaps such particles
are
the modern-day equivalents of trolls and wood-nymphs as standard
starting-points around which to construct explanatory myths. Of
course, playing on an existing word (as in the `futon') yields
additional flavor. Compare magic smoke.
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