34 lines
4.5 KiB
HTML
34 lines
4.5 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>bogon</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="../B.html" title="B"/><link rel="previous" href="BogoMIPS.html" title="BogoMIPS"/><link rel="next" href="bogon-filter.html" title="bogon filter"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">bogon</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="BogoMIPS.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">B</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="bogon-filter.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="bogon"/><dt xmlns="" id="bogon"><b>bogon</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/boh´gon/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [very common; by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but doubtless
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reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas Adams's
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‘Vogons’; see the <a href="../pt03.html#bibliography" title="Bibliography">Bibliography</a> in Appendix C and note that
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Arthur Dent actually mispronounces ‘Vogons’ as
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‘Bogons’ at one point] </p></dd><dd><p> 1. The elementary particle of bogosity (see
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<a href="../Q/quantum-bogodynamics.html"><i class="glossterm">quantum bogodynamics</i></a>). For instance, “<span class="quote">the Ethernet is emitting
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bogons again</span>” means that it is broken or acting in an erratic or
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bogus fashion.</p></dd><dd><p> 2. A query packet sent from a TCP/IP domain resolver to a root
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server, having the reply bit set instead of the query bit. </p></dd><dd><p> 3. Any bogus or incorrectly formed packet sent on a network.
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</p></dd><dd><p> 4. By synecdoche, used to refer to any bogus thing, as in “<span class="quote">I'd
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like to go to lunch with you but I've got to go to the weekly staff
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bogon</span>”. </p></dd><dd><p> 5. A person who is bogus or who says bogus things. This was
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historically the original usage, but has been overtaken by its derivative
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senses 1--4. See also <a href="bogosity.html"><i class="glossterm">bogosity</i></a>,
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<a href="bogus.html"><i class="glossterm">bogus</i></a>; compare <a href="../P/psyton.html"><i class="glossterm">psyton</i></a>,
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<a href="../F/fat-electrons.html"><i class="glossterm">fat electrons</i></a>,
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<a href="../M/magic-smoke.html"><i class="glossterm">magic smoke</i></a>.</p></dd><dd><p>The bogon has become the type case for a whole bestiary of nonce
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particle names, including the ‘clutron’ or ‘cluon’
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(indivisible particle of cluefulness, obviously the antiparticle of the
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bogon) and the futon (elementary particle of
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<a href="../R/randomness.html"><i class="glossterm">randomness</i></a>, or sometimes of lameness). These are
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not so much live usages in themselves as examples of a live meta-usage:
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that is, it has become a standard joke or linguistic maneuver to
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“<span class="quote">explain</span>” otherwise mysterious circumstances by inventing
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nonce particle names. And these imply nonce particle theories, with all
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their dignity or lack thereof (we might note parenthetically that this is a
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generalization from “<span class="quote">(bogus particle) theories</span>” to
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“<span class="quote">bogus (particle theories)</span>”!). Perhaps such particles are the
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modern-day equivalents of trolls and wood-nymphs as standard
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starting-points around which to construct explanatory myths. Of course,
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playing on an existing word (as in the ‘futon’) yields
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additional flavor. Compare <a href="../M/magic-smoke.html"><i class="glossterm">magic smoke</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="BogoMIPS.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../B.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="bogon-filter.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">BogoMIPS </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> bogon filter</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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