[CBQ] Totally OT - "Hackers"

["Jonathan Harris" <jonathanharris@earthlink.net>]

Some of you already know this, no doubt, but I just heard it on the radio and 
was so surprised and delighted I couldn't resist sharing it. 

The popular term "hacker" apparently originated in the 1950s as a 
self-description among members of the MIT model railroad club, who wanted to do 
their own thing, make stuff far more advanced than what was available 
commercially then, i.e., to do what we commonly now call "scratchbuilding" or 
"kitbashing." Back then, the MIT folks called it "hacking." Now of course that 
term refers to tweaking computers and their software, often illegally or for 
nefarious purposes.

Everyone knows the tremendous contribution railroads made to our culture and 
language. It's interesting model railroading also contributed this nugget to 
American slang. 

jonathan




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