1. A common spoken name for "!" (ASCII 33), especially when used in pronouncing a bang path in spoken hackish. In elder days this was considered a CMU ish usage, with MIT and Stanford hackers preferring excl or shriek ; but the spread of Unix has carried "bang" with it (especially via the term bang path ) and it is now certainly the most common spoken name for "!". Note that it is used exclusively for non-emphatic written "!"; one would not say "Congratulations bang" (except possibly for humorous purposes), but if one wanted to specify the exact characters "foo!" one would speak "Eff oh oh bang".
See pling , shriek , ASCII .
2. An exclamation signifying roughly "I have achieved enlightenment!", or "The dynamite has cleared out my brain!" Often used to acknowledge that one has perpetrated a thinko immediately after one has been called on it.
[ Jargon File ]
(1995-01-31)