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abuse Standard way of suggesting that someone has succumbed
to terminal
geekdom. Often heard on
Usenet, especially as
a way of suggesting that the target is taking some obscure
issue of
theology too seriously. This exhortation was
popularised by William Shatner on a "Saturday Night Live"
episode in a speech that ended "Get a *life*!", but some
respondents believe it to have been in use before then. It
was certainly in wide use among hackers for at least five
years before achieving mainstream currency in early 1992.
(1995-01-18)