Part of the Internet acronyms and lingo glossary:

As used on the Internet:

Next Steps

1) As a verb, the practice of trying to lure other Internet users into sending responses to carefully-designed incorrect statements or similar "bait." In a real example, a Usenet newsgroup contributor mentioned the discovery of an ancient African carving containing a list of prime numbers. The contributor further listed some of the prime numbers found and included some numbers that, in fact, are not prime numbers. Other contributors then sent serious replies, correcting the list of prime numbers cited.

2) Also as a verb, as a synonym for "surf."

3) As a noun, in emulation of the small mischievous figures of Scandinavian legend, a figure (or one of a group of figures) that you can pretend to be in the chat groups and games called MUD and MOO and their variations.

This was last updated in May 2008
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

Related Terms

Definitions

  • Learning Path: Cyberculture

    - This page provides alearning path that uses a sequence of definitions from whatis.com to introduce and explain cyberculture. (WhatIs.com)

  • flamebait

    - On the Internet, flamebait is a "posting" or note on a Web site discussion forum, an online bulletin board, a Usenet newsgroup, or other public forum that is intended to elicit the extremely strong... (SearchSOA.com)

  • Blog terms: Glossary

    - This is a WhatIs.com glossary for some basic vocabulary about blogging. (WhatIs.com)

Glossaries

  • Internet acronyms and lingo

    - Terms related to Internet acronyms and lingo, including slang definitions and jargon about texting, Twitter and other social networking sites.

  • Internet applications

    - This WhatIs.com glossary contains terms related to Internet applications, including definitions about Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery models and words and phrases about web sites, e-commerce ...

Dig Deeper

Fast References

People Who Read This Also Read...

Ask a Question. Find an Answer.Powered by ITKnowledgeExchange.com

Ask An IT Question

Get answers from your peers on your most technical challenges

Ask Question

Tech TalkComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.
    Back to top