EOU
<character, humour> The mnemonic of a mythical ASCII control character
(End Of User) that would make an ASR-33 Teletype explode on receipt. This
construction parodies the numerous obscure delimiter and control characters left
in ASCII from the days when it was associated more with wire-service teletypes
than computers (e.g. FS, GS, RS, US, EM, SUB, ETX, and especially EOT). It is
worth remembering that ASR-33s were big, noisy mechanical beasts with a lot of
clattering parts; the notion that one might explode was nowhere near as
ridiculous as it might seem to someone sitting in front of a tube or flatscreen
today.
[Jargon File]
(1996-06-29)
Nearby terms:
EOF « EOL « EOT « EOU » EOUG » EP » EPCS
