<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>frobnitz</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../F.html" title="F"/><link rel="previous" href="frobnicate.html" title="frobnicate"/><link rel="next" href="frog.html" title="frog"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">frobnitz</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="frobnicate.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">F</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="frog.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="frobnitz"/><dt xmlns="" id="frobnitz"><b>frobnitz</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/frob´nits/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">pl.</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="firstterm">frobnitzem</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/frob´nit·zm/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="firstterm">frob­ni</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/frob'­ni:/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [TMRC] An unspecified physical object, a widget.  Also refers to
   electronic black boxes.  This rare form is usually abbreviated to <span class="firstterm">frotz</span>, or more commonly to
   <a href="frob.html"><i class="glossterm">frob</i></a>.  Also used are <span class="firstterm">frobnule</span> (<span class="pronunciation">/frob´n[y]ool/</span>) and <span class="firstterm">frobule</span> (<span class="pronunciation">/frob´yool/</span>).  Starting perhaps in 1979,
   <span class="firstterm">frobozz</span> <span class="pronunciation">/fr@-boz´/</span> (plural: <span class="firstterm">frobbotzim</span> <span class="pronunciation">/fr@-bot´zm/</span>) has also become very
   popular, largely through its exposure as a name via
   <a href="../Z/Zork.html"><i class="glossterm">Zork</i></a>.  These variants can also be applied to
   nonphysical objects, such as data structures.  For related amusement, see
   the <a href="http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Encyclopedia%20Frobozzica&amp;lastnode-id=585787" target="_top">
   Encyclopedia Frobozzica</a>.</p></dd><dd><p>Pete Samson, compiler of the original <a href="../T/TMRC.html"><i class="glossterm">TMRC</i></a>
   lexicon, adds, &#8220;<span class="quote">Under the TMRC [railroad] layout were many storage
   boxes, managed (in 1958) by David R. Sawyer.  Several had fanciful
   designations written on them, such as &#8216;Frobnitz Coil Oil&#8217;.
   Perhaps DRS intended Frobnitz to be a proper name, but the name was quickly
   taken for the thing</span>&#8221;.  This was almost certainly the origin of the
   term.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="frobnicate.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../F.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="frog.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">frobnicate </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> frog</td></tr></table></div></body></html>