[Usenet: possibly influenced by British slang ‘plonk’
for cheap booze, or ‘plonker’ for someone behaving stupidly
(latter is lit. equivalent to Yiddish
schmuck)] The sound a
newbie makes as he falls to the bottom of a
kill file. While it originated in the
newsgroup talk.bizarre, this term (usually written
*plonk*
) is now (1994) widespread on Usenet as a form of
public ridicule.