hack

Wilson Gray wilson.gray at RCN.COM
Thu Jun 16 23:01:59 UTC 2005


I remember the late Steve LaPointe, when he was still an undergrad at
the 'Tute in ?1974, referring to himself as a "computer hack," a person
majoring in computer science. That is, "hacker" may be an
overcorrection/reinterpretation of "hack" as a noun. At least, that's
what I've wanted to believe, all these years. ;-)

-Wilson Gray

On Jun 15, 2005, at 11:43 PM, Mullins, Bill wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      hack
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> hack -- a prank, particularly technically-oriented, or involved
> detailed =
> planning (or at least appealing to MIT students)
> =20
> This sense isn't in the OED or the HDAS.  As near as I can tell, it =
> started as MIT slang.  I tend to think that the computing sense of =
> "hack" evolved from it, but can't prove it.
> =20
> =20
> "Two expelled from dorms" _The Tech_ (MIT, Cambridge, MA) Vol 83, No. =
> 12, May 1 1963, p. 1, col 3 and 4.
> online at:  =
> http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_083/TECH_V083_S0157_P001.pdf
> =20
> "It was brought out in testimony that the four students involved had =
> decided to retaliate to a hack perpetrated by a close friend, not an
> MIT =
> student." =20
> =20
> and later in the article=20
> =20
> "At the trial, the five, including their friend, stressed that the
> hack =
> was considered a "joke" by all concerned, and a harmless  one at that."
> =20
> "Techman chosen for priority mission" _The Tech_ (MIT, Cambridge, MA) =
> Vol 82, No. 11, Apr 25, 1962, p. 8, col  4.
> online at:  =
> http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_083/TECH_V083_S0157_P001.pdf
> "I figured that if anyone was willing to buy a thirteen-dollar ticket =
> just for a hack, then there just might be a man in a turquoise suit in
>  =
> the Plaza lobby."
> =20
> "Is Paul alive? - the morbid details" Dave deBronkart and John
> Jurewicz, =
> _ The Tech_ (MIT, Cambridge, MA) Vol 89, No. 38, Oct 21, 1969, p. 5,
> col =
>  1. http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_089/TECH_V089_S0385_P005.pdf
> "For the last three years the Beatles have been pulling a monumentally
> =
> bizarre hack on the world: they have repeatedly indicated that Paul =
> McCartney has been dead since 1966."
> =20
> =20
> _Penn & Teller's How to Play with Your Food_, Penn Jillett and Teller,
> =
> Villard Books: New York, 1992. p. 110, from the chapter "Pixar's =
> Listerine Hack"
> "To computer people, scams, practical jokes, and most anything sneaky =
> and clever are "hacks."  Our computer buddies congratulate us on our =
> "Letterman hacks."  This book could be called "Penn & Teller's Food =
> Hacks." "
> =20
>
> =20
>



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