May 15, 2003

frobnicate

/frob´ni·kayt/ vt.

[Poss. derived from frobnitz, and usually abbreviated to frob, but frobnicate is recognized as the official full form.:] To manipulate or adjust, to tweak. One frequently frobs bits or other 2-state devices. Thus: Please frob the light switch (that is, flip it), but also Stop frobbing that clasp; you'll break it. One also sees the construction to frob a frob. See tweak and twiddle.

Usage: frob, twiddle, and tweak sometimes connote points along a continuum. ‘Frob’ connotes aimless manipulation; twiddle connotes gross manipulation, often a coarse search for a proper setting; tweak connotes fine-tuning. If someone is turning a knob on an oscilloscope, then if he's carefully adjusting it, he is probably tweaking it; if he is just turning it but looking at the screen, he is probably twiddling it; but if he's just doing it because turning a knob is fun, he's frobbing it. The variant frobnosticate has been recently reported.

Posted by Jargon File at May 15, 2003 10:46 AM

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