bogon

/boh'gon/ [by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but

doubtless reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas

Adams's "Vogons"] 1. The elementary particle of bogosity (see

quantum bogodynamics). For instance, "the Ethernet is

emitting bogons again" means that it is broken or acting in an

erratic or bogus fashion.

2. A query packet sent from a TCP/IP domain resolver to

a root server, having the reply bit set instead of the query

bit.

3. Any bogus or incorrectly formed packet sent on a network.

4. A person who is bogus or who says bogus things. This was

historically the original usage, but has been overtaken by its

derivative senses. See also bogosity; compare psyton,

fat electrons, magic smoke.

The bogon has become the type case for a whole bestiary of

nonce particle names, including the "clutron" or "cluon"

(indivisible particle of cluefulness, obviously the

antiparticle of the bogon) and the futon (elementary particle

of randomness, or sometimes of lameness). These are not so

much live usages in themselves as examples of a live

meta-usage: that is, it has become a standard joke or

linguistic maneuver to "explain" otherwise mysterious

circumstances by inventing nonce particle names. And these

imply nonce particle theories, with all their dignity or lack

thereof (we might note parenthetically that this is a

generalisation from "(bogus particle) theories" to "bogus

(particle theories)"!). Perhaps such particles are the

modern-day equivalents of trolls and wood-nymphs as standard

starting-points around which to construct explanatory myths.

Of course, playing on an existing word (as in the "futon")

yields additional flavour.

[Jargon File]