blow an eprom

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

blow an EPROM
 /bloh @n ee'prom/, v.

   (alt.: blast an EPROM, burn an EPROM) To program a read-only memory,
   e.g.: for use with an embedded system. This term arose because the
   programming process for the Programmable Read-Only Memories (PROMs)
   that preceded present-day Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memories
   (EPROMs) involved intentionally blowing tiny electrical fuses on the
   chip. The usage lives on (it's too vivid and expressive to discard)
   even though the write process on EPROMs is nondestructive.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

blow an EPROM

   /bloh *n ee'prom/ (Or "blast", "burn") To program a {read-only
   memory}, e.g. for use with an {embedded system}.  This term
   arose because the programming process for the {Programmable
   Read-Only Memory} (PROM) that preceded present-day {Erasable
   Programmable Read-Only Memory} (EPROM) involved intentionally
   blowing tiny electrical fuses on the chip.  The usage lives on
   (it's too vivid and expressive to discard) even though the
   write process on EPROMs is nondestructive.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1994-11-29)