bit bucket

bit bucket
 n.

   [very common]

   1. The universal data sink (originally, the mythical receptacle used
   to catch bits when they fall off the end of a register during a shift
   instruction). Discarded, lost, or destroyed data is said to have gone
   to the bit bucket. On {Unix}, often used for {/dev/null}. Sometimes
   amplified as the Great Bit Bucket in the Sky.

   2. The place where all lost mail and news messages eventually go. The
   selection is performed according to {Finagle's Law}; important mail is
   much more likely to end up in the bit bucket than junk mail, which has
   an almost 100% probability of getting delivered. Routing to the bit
   bucket is automatically performed by mail-transfer agents, news
   systems, and the lower layers of the network.

   3. The ideal location for all unwanted mail responses: "Flames about
   this article to the bit bucket." Such a request is guaranteed to
   overflow one's mailbox with flames.

   4. Excuse for all mail that has not been sent. "I mailed you those
   figures last week; they must have landed in the bit bucket." Compare
   {black hole}.

   This term is used purely in jest. It is based on the fanciful notion
   that bits are objects that are not destroyed but only misplaced. This
   appears to have been a mutation of an earlier term `bit box', about
   which the same legend was current; old-time hackers also report that
   trainees used to be told that when the CPU stored bits into memory it
   was actually pulling them "out of the bit box". See also {chad box}.

   Another variant of this legend has it that, as a consequence of the
   "parity preservation law", the number of 1 bits that go to the bit
   bucket must equal the number of 0 bits. Any imbalance results in bits
   filling up the bit bucket. A qualified computer technician can empty a
   full bit bucket as part of scheduled maintenance.

   The source for all these meanings, is, historically, the fact that the
   {chad box} on a paper-tape punch was sometimes called a bit bucket.
    

bit bucket

   <jargon> 1. (Or "{write-only memory}", "WOM") The universal
   data sink (originally, the mythical receptacle used to catch
   bits when they fall off the end of a {register} during a
   {shift} instruction).  Discarded, lost, or destroyed data is
   said to have "gone to the bit bucket".  On {Unix}, often used
   for {/dev/null}.  Sometimes amplified as "the Great Bit Bucket
   in the Sky".

   2. The place where all lost mail and news messages eventually
   go.  The selection is performed according to {Finagle's Law};
   important mail is much more likely to end up in the bit bucket
   than junk mail, which has an almost 100% probability of
   getting delivered.  Routing to the bit bucket is automatically
   performed by mail-transfer agents, news systems, and the lower
   layers of the network.

   3. The ideal location for all unwanted mail responses: "Flames
   about this article to the bit bucket."  Such a request is
   guaranteed to overflow one's mailbox with flames.

   4. Excuse for all mail that has not been sent.  "I mailed you
   those figures last week; they must have landed in the bit
   bucket."  Compare {black hole}.

   This term is used purely in jest.  It is based on the fanciful
   notion that bits are objects that are not destroyed but only
   misplaced.  This appears to have been a mutation of an earlier
   term "bit box", about which the same legend was current;
   old-time hackers also report that trainees used to be told
   that when the CPU stored bits into memory it was actually
   pulling them "out of the bit box".

   Another variant of this legend has it that, as a consequence
   of the "parity preservation law", the number of 1 bits that go
   to the bit bucket must equal the number of 0 bits.  Any
   imbalance results in bits filling up the bit bucket.  A
   qualified computer technician can empty a full bit bucket as
   part of scheduled maintenance.

   In contrast, a "{chad box}" is a real container used to catch
   {chad}.  This may be related to the origin of the term "bit
   bucket" [Comments ?].

   (1996-11-20)