ping

If you work with techies, or geeks as they're sometimes slandered, you've surely experienced this habit of using tech phrases to describe real world activities.

Example 1: "I'll ping Chachi when I'm done that."

Translation 1: "I'll call Chachi when I'm done that."

The real activities tend to have a much longer history and broader reach than the tech ones so the use of these phrases is partially about obscurity. They're also the computer workers last stab at being part of the in crowd. They never got to say phrases like:

"Dude, I redpointed that 5.12 out at crag x. I almost onsighted it but guyMan yelled beta up to me just as I was about to throw that last double dyno."

In an attempt to better understand this phenomenon, I'm trying out a few research techniques. First I'm using real world terms in tech circles to describe technical activities, essentially reversing the above process.

Example 1.1: "The process should then ftp that over a secure connection to the backup location."

My version: "I'll make sure the stamp's licked on that and I'll walk it over to the storage shed myself."

Second, I'm trying out taking the use of tech phrases literally.

Example 1.2: "I pinged Chachi when I was done."

"Really? I didn't get that call?"

"What call? I pinged you."