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Let's say a CIA operative is about to be embedded in an enemy server room. If they discover she's a beginner, it's certain death. She needs to learn networking jargon in a hurry - what words and survival phrases would you give her?

E.g.:

  • headless: adj, no monitor
  • BOFH: Simon Travaglia's "Bastard Operator from Hell"
  • colo: n, a server collocation centre
  • ...
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You could just do what they do in Chuck and make the operative an exceedingly attractive one. :-) – ceejayoz May 26 '09 at 17:57
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Hopefully the script writers of "24" will use this list. Everything security-related is a "firewall." :-) – splattne♦ May 26 '09 at 18:12
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@splattne as long as they don't go overboard and start "grokking" and "lulzing" every other word – username May 26 '09 at 18:20
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@splattne Everything's a socket, too. – ceejayoz May 26 '09 at 18:49
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@splattne: I'll add CSI to that list - "I'll create a GUI interface using Visual Basic. See if I can track an IP address." – squillman May 26 '09 at 19:51
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5 Answers

up vote 6 down vote

Probably a bit more specific than what you mean by 'networking', but there should be a copy of Newton's Telecom Dictionary sitting on every network engineer's desk. It's particularly useful when trying to decipher information given to you by carriers.

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up vote 4 down vote
  • luser: n, a clueless user
  • PEBKAC, ID10T: n, words to humiliate the person on the other end of tech support line
  • three-finger-salute: v,n reboot a machine with key combination ctrl+alt+del
  • ping: v, identify(with doubt) if a host is up using ICMP echo [ i.e. ping(noun) ] packets. (see also: arping)

  • finger: v

    1. learn details about a user (I fingered her and found out that her .plan was dominating the world ( Not to be confused by vulgar uses of the term )
    2. list all users connected to a system

PC Diagnostic Dice should also get a mention, if the agent ever has to pretend system troubleshooting.

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oh boy, .plan files. Ye Original Blogge. – Chris Thorpe Mar 5 '10 at 11:40
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up vote 3 down vote

Only thing a network administrator needs to know:

"Yes, the network is up. I'm betting it's an Exchange problem. Check with the server team."

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Bah. The answer is ALWAYS "Yes, the network is up. DNS is probably screwed up" – Matt Simmons May 30 '09 at 20:20
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up vote 3 down vote

Answer to any question: 'can you ping it?'

Whatever the reply, mumble something about PICNIC and wander off with brow furrowed while sipping coffee.

To learn network jargon, go read Newton's Telecom Dictionary and every BOFH.

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up vote -2 down vote

FYI, PING actually stands for Packet Internet Groper. Read it in an HP network analysis tool manual. You can look it up.

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No, it doesn't. It was named to parallel the sound of active SONAR, as Mike Muuss(ping's original author) had worked on modelling SONAR/RADAR in college. See this archived copy of his webpage: web.archive.org/web/19991104092620/http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/… – Murali Suriar May 30 '09 at 19:27
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