frobnicate

2 definitions found

frobnicate - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  frobnicate
  
     /frob'ni-kayt/ (Possibly from frobnitz, and usually
     abbreviated to frob, but "frobnicate" is recognised as the
     official full form).  To manipulate or adjust, to tweak.
     One frequently frobs bits or other 2-state devices.  Thus:
     "Please frob the light switch" (that is, flip it), but also
     "Stop frobbing that clasp; you'll break it".  One also sees
     the construction "to frob a frob".
  
     Usage: frob, twiddle, and tweak sometimes connote points
     along a continuum.  "Frob" connotes aimless manipulation;
     "twiddle" connotes gross manipulation, often a coarse search
     for a proper setting; "tweak" connotes fine-tuning.  If
     someone is turning a knob on an oscilloscope, then if he's
     carefully adjusting it, he is probably tweaking it; if he is
     just turning it but looking at the screen, he is probably
     twiddling it; but if he's just doing it because turning a knob
     is fun, he's frobbing it.  The variant "frobnosticate" has
     also been reported.
  
     (1994-12-16)
  

frobnicate - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  frobnicate
   /frob'ni.kayt/, vt.
  
     [Poss. derived from frobnitz, and usually abbreviated to frob,
  but
     frobnicate is recognized as the official full form.:] To manipulate
  or
     adjust, to tweak. One frequently frobs bits or other 2-state devices.
     Thus: "Please frob the light switch" (that is, flip it), but also
     "Stop frobbing that clasp; you'll break it". One also sees the
     construction to frob a frob. See tweak and twiddle.
  
     Usage: frob, twiddle, and tweak sometimes connote points along a
     continuum. `Frob' connotes aimless manipulation; twiddle connotes
     gross manipulation, often a coarse search for a proper setting; tweak
     connotes fine-tuning. If someone is turning a knob on an
  oscilloscope,
     then if he's carefully adjusting it, he is probably tweaking it; if
  he
     is just turning it but looking at the screen, he is probably
  twiddling
     it; but if he's just doing it because turning a knob is fun, he's
     frobbing it. The variant frobnosticate has been recently reported.