[ABnormal END]
1. Abnormal termination (of software); crash; lossage.
Derives from an error message on the IBM 360; used jokingly by
hackers but seriously mainly by code grinders. Usually
capitalized, but may appear as `abend'. Hackers will try to
persuade you that ABEND is called `abend' because it is what
system operators do to the machine late on Friday when they want to
call it a day, and hence is from the German `Abend' = `Evening'.
2. [alt.callahans] Absent By Enforced Net Deprivation -
used in the subject lines of postings warning friends of an
imminent loss of Internet access. (This can be because of computer
downtime, loss of provider, moving or illness.) Variants of this
also appear: ABVND = `Absent By Voluntary Net Deprivation' and
ABSEND = `Absent By Self-Enforced Net Deprivation' have been
sighted.
