different between frobnitz vs frob
frobnitz
English
Etymology
Coined c. 1958 by David R. Sawyer of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) as a fanciful name for model railroad parts, perhaps originally as a proper noun. More general use presumably dates from the 1960s, as it is not found in the TMRC dictionaries of 1959 or 1960.
Noun
frobnitz (plural frobnitzes)
- Synonym of gizmo
Derived terms
- frob
- frobnicate
References
Further reading
- frobnitz at OneLook Dictionary Search
frobnitz From the web:
- what does frobnitz mean
frob
English
Etymology
Clipping of frobnicate, from frobnitz, coined circa 1958 by David R. Sawyer of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC). Year of origin uncertain, and could be 1958–1981: frob is not listed in the TMRC dictionaries of 1959 or 1960, and is first listed in the Jargon File (1981 edition), so it may date from the 1960s or 1970s. Possibly variant of or influenced by frotsus (“a protruding arm or trunnion”), which is listed in TMRC 1959 and 1960.
Noun
frob (plural frobs)
- (MIT) Any small device or object (usually hand-sized) which can be manipulated.
- Hand me that frob there, will you?
Verb
frob (third-person singular simple present frobs, present participle frobbing, simple past and past participle frobbed)
- (computing, slang, rare, transitive) To manipulate in some ill-defined way; to tweak or mess about with.
- 1995, Wayne Ause, Instant HTML Web Pages (page 29)
- I sketched about 30 different versions, then scanned them in and played around until I got it right, then frobbed it with Photoshop.
- 1995, Wayne Ause, Instant HTML Web Pages (page 29)
- (Silicon Valley, slang) To perform a task that is clear to the speaker but too complex or tedious to be explained, so that outside help is not helpful.
- Why don't you go get lunch? I need to frob with this thing for about 30 minutes and then we'll be good to go.
Usage notes
Sometimes contrasted with twiddle and tweak: frob for aimless manipulation, twiddle for coarse manipulation, and tweak for fine manipulation.
Related terms
- frobnicate
- frobnitz
See also
- futz
- tweak
- twiddle
References
References
- frob, in The New Hacker's Dictionary, 1996, by Eric S. Raymond.
- Eric S[teven] Raymond, editor (29 December 2003) , “frob”, in The Jargon File, version 4.4.7
- Eric S[teven] Raymond, editor (29 December 2003) , “frobnicate”, in The Jargon File, version 4.4.7
Anagrams
- forb
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