bang

1. n. Common spoken name for ! (ASCII 0100001), especially when used in
pronouncing a  path in spoken hackish. In elder days this was considered a
CMUish usage, with MIT and Stanford hackers preferring excl or shriek ; but
the spread of Unix has carried  with it (esp. via the term  path ) and it is
now certainly the most common spoken name for !. Note that it is used
exclusively for non-emphatic written ! ; one would not say Congratulations 
(except possibly for humorous purposes), but if one wanted to specify the
exact characters foo! one would speak Eff oh oh . See shriek , ASCII. 2.
interj. An exclamation signifying roughly I have achieved enlightenment! ,
or The dynamite has cleared out my brain! Often used to acknowledge that one
has perpetrated a thinko immediately after one has been called on it.

