bang

   1.  n. Common spoken name for ! (ASCII 0100001), especially when used
   in  pronouncing a {bang path} in spoken hackish. In {elder days} this
   was  considered  a  CMUish  usage,  with  MIT  and  Stanford  hackers
   preferring  {excl}  or  {shriek};  but the spread of Unix has carried
   `bang'  with  it  (esp.  via  the  term  {bang  path})  and it is now
   certainly  the  most  common  spoken name for !. Note that it is used
   exclusively   for   non-emphatic   written   !;  one  would  not  say
   "Congratulations  bang"  (except possibly for humorous purposes), but
   if  one wanted to specify the exact characters "foo!" one would speak
   "Eff oh oh bang". See {shriek}, {ASCII}.

   2.  interj.  An  exclamation  signifying  roughly  "I  have  achieved
   enlightenment!",  or  "The  dynamite has cleared out my brain!" Often
   used  to  acknowledge that one has perpetrated a {thinko} immediately
   after one has been called on it.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {ASCII}{bang path}{cokebottle}{excl}]