Jargon Watch
Stress Puppy A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiney. "I'd like to work with Patrick, but he's too much of a stress puppy ... everything's a crisis."
EMG Acronym for Empty Magnanimous Gesture. As in: "We think your idea is great and would love to fund it, but [insert excuse here]."
Betamaxed When a technology is overtaken by an inferior but better-marketed technology. "Apple was betamaxed out of the market by Microsoft."
Forelash (opposite of backlash) Negative or indifferent reactions to nonexistent, but already overhyped technologies. Examples would include video-on-demand, 500 channels, interactive TV, and anything promised in the AT&T "You Will" ads.
Frankenedit A gruesome job of editing a writer's work by a hurried editor. The frankenedited piece is usually returned with a note asking the writer to suture it back together and to breath life back into it (by the next morning).
Gang FAQ When a group e-mails a FAQ to an individual who has asked a particularly stupid or old question on a newsgroup. Differs from a mailbomb in that each person sends only one copy, but numerous members of the newsgroup participate.
Hourglass mode Waiting in limbo for some expected action to take place. Refers to the hourglass icon used in Microsloth Windows. "I was held up at the Post Office 'cause the clerk was stuck in hourglass mode."
Nooksurfer Someone who frequents only one or two newsgroups, BBS topics, or logs on just to answer e-mail, never daring to venture out into the big waters of the Net.
A tip o' the beret to: J Matisse Enzer, Jonelle Patrick, Will Kreth, Alberto Gaitan, Laura Lemay, Robert Lauriston, Shawn Wolfe, Clark4416
