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ABEND: /aŽbend/, /@·bendŽ/, n. [ABnormal END] 1. Abnormal termination (of software); crash;
lossage. Derives from an error message on the IBM
360; used jokingly by hackers but seriously mainly by code
grinders. Usually capitalized, but may appear as
‘abend’. Hackers will try to persuade you that ABEND is called
abend because it is what system
operators do to the machine late on Friday when they want to call it a day,
and hence is from the German Abend =
‘Evening’. 2. [alt.callahans] Absent
By Enforced Net Deprivation — used in the subject lines of postings
warning friends of an imminent loss of Internet access. (This can be
because of computer downtime, loss of provider, moving or illness.)
Variants of this also appear: ABVND = ‘Absent By Voluntary Net
Deprivation’ and ABSEND = ‘Absent By Self-Enforced Net
Deprivation’ have been sighted.
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