from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
kill file
n.
[Usenet; very common] (alt.: KILL file) Per-user file(s) used by some
{Usenet} reading programs (originally Larry Wall's rn(1)) to discard
summarily (without presenting for reading) articles matching some
particularly uninteresting (or unwanted) patterns of subject, author,
or other header lines. Thus to add a person (or subject) to one's kill
file is to arrange for that person to be ignored by one's newsreader
in future. By extension, it may be used for a decision to ignore the
person or subject in other media. See also {plonk}.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
kill file
[{Usenet}] Per-user file(s) used by some {Usenet} reading
programs (originally {Larry Wall}'s {rn}) to discard summarily
(without presenting for reading) articles matching some
particularly uninteresting (or unwanted) patterns of subject,
author, or other header lines. Thus to add a person (or
subject) to one's kill file is to arrange for that person to
be ignored by one's newsreader in future. By extension, it
may be used for a decision to ignore the person or subject in
other media. See also {plonk}.
[{Jargon File}]