Join the masses who listen to A Way With Words, the call-in radio show and podcast about words and language.
Catchword for “kill screen”
Catchword: kill screen
Filed Under: , ,
Part of Speech: n.
Quotation: We talk about what is known in classic-gaming argot as the “kill screen.” This is the edge of the universe, the place where instructions end. Billy has seen a lot of kill screens. Pac-Man comes to a halt at level 256, as the program runs out of code and the entire right side of the screen is engulfed by senseless symbols. Circus Charlie just freezes. Donkey Kong ends after five seconds on level 22. The first time Billy reached the impassable final level of Dig Dug, he lost all 400 of his free men. Then there is Galaga, which eventually closes in solitude. After everything comes nothing: No enemy armada. No music. No score. Just you and the existential void. Other games end in violence.
Article or Document Title:
“The Perfect Game” (URL)
Author:
Joshuah Bearman
Article, Document, Publication, Web Site:
Harper’s Magazine
Date of Publication:
July, 2008
This catchword has yet to be researched.
Posted 22 Aug 08 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Leave a comment, which must be approved by the moderator before it will appear. Courtesy matters!

Keep in mind that we're interested in terms that are not well-covered in mainstream dictionaries, or not covered at all. A mass of unexamined Google hits counts for nothing, but an early use of the term you've found in a book or periodical is very useful. A term does not have to be new to be recorded here, it merely needs to be worthy of more attention.
Name (mandatory):

Email (mandatory):

Location (optional):

Your Web Site (optional):

Remember my personal information

Notify me, by email, of follow-up comments.

Recent Catchwords
antihomonuptial adj. (11/30)
cellblock n. (11/30)
cut and shut n. (11/30)
photoporation n. (11/30)
dry powder n. (11/30)
phytocapping n. (11/30)
toe pick n. (11/30)
smokepole n. (11/30)
heavy furniture n. (11/29)
gulch n. (11/24)
hyper-edit n. (11/24)
doga n. (11/24)
hot body n. (11/24)
wovit n. (11/24)
boyat n. (11/23)
KLM n. (11/23)
governist n. (11/23)
wirehouse n. (11/23)
mockolate n. (11/23)
detailer n. (11/23)
 More catchwords...
Lexicographer's Rules
The American Dialect Society seeks 2008 word-of-the-year nominations (11/20)
Where would we be without “ass”? (10/8)
Organizing Our Marvellous Neighbours (10/6)
What a bitchin’ word! (9/24)
Don’t forget about the dialect: dauncy/donsie, faunch, and jockey box (9/10)
Wilf? Yuffer? Get real! (8/27)
Lexicographer Laurence Urdang Dies at 81 (8/26)
A thesaurus can be harmful (8/6)
Can bad language punditry be stopped? Can false attributions for classic quotes be fixed? (7/27)
There’s one in every country (7/23)
 More blog entries...
Find A Word  »
 A   B   C   D   E 
 F   G   H   I   J 
 K   L   M   N   O 
 P   Q   R   S   T 
 U   V   W   X   Y 
 Z   0-9 
Search
Search Site

Google Site Search
Recent searches: Etymological… poodle ballin… roach coach… skeet skeet…
New Comments
jordan commented on tom-walkers (11/30)
Spc. POG commented on fobbit (11/30)
dallas waxler commented on whimperative (11/29)
C. Sean Holliday commented on may state (11/27)
Suzanne commented on Yankee dime (11/24)
Bink commented on catch a crab (11/21)
Bink commented on hotbox (11/21)
Steve commented on hotbox (11/18)
Dr. Andrew Ruddle commented on midnight drop (11/18)
Kortney commented on shralping (11/16)
Michelle Jerome commented on woo-woo (11/14)
stack commented on robotripping (11/13)
R. Hopkins commented on one-eighty-seven (11/12)
C commented on featherwood (11/11)
mitch commented on catch a crab (11/4)
Subscribe to the RSS feed. • Subscribe to the mailing list. • Browse the archive. • Add to Technorati Favorites. • © 1999-2008 by Grant Barrett, Double-Tongued Dictionary, New York City.