[an error occurred while processing this directive]
nadger
![[prev]](../gif/left.gif)
![[up]](../gif/up.gif)
![[next]](../gif/right.gif)
nadger /nad'jr/ /v./ [UK] Of software or hardware (not
people), to twiddle some object in a hidden manner, generally so
that it conforms better to some format. For instance, string
printing routines on 8-bit processors often take the string text
from the instruction stream, thus a print call looks like `jsr
print:"Hello world"'. The print routine has to `nadger' the
saved instruction pointer so that the processor doesn't try to
execute the text as instructions when the subroutine returns.
Apparently this word originated on a now-legendary 1950s radio
comedy program called "The Goon Show". The Goon Show usage
of "nadger" was definitely in the sense of "jinxed"
"clobbered" "fouled up". The American mutation adger
seems to have preserved more of the original flavor.
Return to Cool Jargon of the Day