Snert

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What is Snert?

People often ask me what does snert mean? For me, it means absolutely nothing. Some programmers use words like junk, fred, xyzzy, foobar, zork for temporary file names; I however picked up the habit of using snert from one of my supervisors during a university work-study a while back. When ask what it meant, he told me "nothing" (I wonder if this was ment to be a Zen lesson).

I started using snert at work when I had to distinguish between my temporary files and those temporary files of a coworker (I think he used "zork"). Then I found myself using it at home for programming, save game files, or as a character name. Finally, I knew I was sick when, in frustration I started using it as my handle on the net in ICQ, SubSpace, Diablo, and Netstorm, as it was less commonly used.

Since then snert has come to mean something to me; an identity, alter ego, or persona. I later heard from some Dutch that snert is the name of a thick pea-soup in Holland. I've also been told that its the name of Hagard the Horrible's dog. I've also heard that in Afrikaans it means talking rubbish or nonsense. One gentleman told me it was a late 1940's expression for a nerd. I guess that means I can sit, eat, and be snert.

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