I’m not super-savvy when it comes to computers.
OK – I’m not even savvy.
To get the above image from my library’s website – and this was a real stretch for me – I did a screen print, then I scanned it, saved it, opened it in Picture Manager, cropped it, saved it, then added the red arrow in Paint and saved it again.
I was exhausted.
So when it comes to high-tech talk, I need help. I need someone to translate for me.
Maybe the eight-year-old who lives next door.
When the library’s website with the above image appeared on my computer screen, I cringed. I was sure this was yet more complicated high-tech talk with which I was unfamiliar:
“Because we are changing things, you may find areas that are broken or act funny.”
“Act funny”?
It can’t be the obvious – there must be some secret meaning here. To aid me in 
discerning it, I went online to look for high-tech talk that might explain “funny.”
I found the Jargon Generator at shinytoylabs.com and lots of high-tech talk, including:
- The RAM pixel is down, program the optical spyware so we can generate the SMTP port!
- They’re inside the malware, use the ethernet SQL system to synthesize their microchip!
- You can’t reboot the transmitter without quantifying the neural ADP form factor!
These were funny, but they didn’t help me figure out the secret meaning of “funny.”
Then I found netlingo.com and fifty – fifty! – high-tech terms, alphabetized, no less. Surely I’ll find “funny” on a list that offers…
Cluster funk: When a multitude of things go wrong on a computer system, at the same time, because of one action. It can also refer to a room full of smelly programmers, as in, “You don’t want to go back there; there’s a major cluster funk going on.”
Ohnosecond: The fraction of time it takes to realize you’ve just goofed; for example, right after you hit the Send button on an email and realize you forgot to include the attachment.
Zen Mail: E-mail messages that arrive with no text in the message body.
Again, funny, but no “funny.”
Ready to tear out my hair, as a last resort, I went to a dictionary. Surely an online (high-tech) dictionary would tell me the meaning of a (high-tech) term like “funny”? I found:
Funny (fuhn-ee), adjective:
- Providing fun; causing amusement or laughter; amusing; comical.
- Attempting to amuse; facetious.
- Warranting suspicion; deceitful; underhanded.
Funny, but not helpful.
Guess it’s time to ask that eight-year-old next door.
