CINXE.COM
hosed from FOLDOC
<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>hosed from FOLDOC</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" content="default-src 'unsafe-inline' http: https:"> <meta name="verify-v1" content="siAI0ZOMn41hao0E/T76D1I2L3MtFjzE48P3ctCjRNU="> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#da532c"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"> <meta name="google-translate-customization" content="828219db36930e1e-c51d915bf2ea717c-g9b503f9a85d5b5a7-a"> <!-- Google Analytics Global site tag (gtag.js) --> <script src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-9715943-1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-9715943-1'); </script> <!-- End Google Analytics --> <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Duru+Sans%7CBelgrano%7CInconsolata%7CAlef%7CArmata" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/layout.css?2"> <!-- realfavicongenerator.net --> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="152x152" href="/im/apple-touch-icon.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/im/favicon-32x32.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/im/favicon-16x16.png"> <link rel="manifest" href="/im/site.webmanifest"> <link rel="mask-icon" href="/im/safari-pinned-tab.svg" color="#5bbad5"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://foldoc.org/hosed"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="FOLDOC" href="/rss.xml"> <link rel="search" title="FOLDOC" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="//foldoc.org/search.xml"> <!-- AdSense --> <script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5521724329338202" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <!-- AdSense end --> </head> <body> <div id="fb-root"></div> <script> (function (d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); </script> <div id="container"> <div id="left"> <a href="/"> <img src="/foldoc.gif" width="300" height="98" alt="Free On-line Dictionary of Computing" class="logo"> </a> <div id="nav"> <a href="/contents.html" class="button">Contents</a> <a href="/help.html" class="button">Help</a> <a href="/random-entry" class="button">Random</a> </div> <form action="/"> <input type="text" name="query" id="query" autofocus="autofocus"> <input type="submit" name="action" value="Search" class="button"> </form> <div id="content"> <h2>hosed</h2> <p></p> <p><<i><a href="contents/jargon.html">jargon</a></i>></p> <p> A somewhat humorous variant of "<a href="/down">down</a>", used primarily by <a href="/Unix">Unix</a> <a href="/hackers">hackers</a>. "Hosed" implies a condition thought to be relatively easy to reverse. It is also widely used of people in the mainstream sense of "in an extremely unfortunate situation". The term was popularised by fighter pilots refering to being hosed by machine gun fire (date?). Usage in hackerdom dates back to <a href="/CMU">CMU</a> in the 1970s or earlier. <p></p> <em><a href="http://ucc.ie/cgi-bin/acronym">"Acronyms and Abbreviations" from UCC, Ireland</a></em> expands it as "Hardware Or Software Error Detected", though this is probably a back-formation. <p></p> The <a href="/Jargon+File">Jargon File</a> version 4.1.4 1999-06-17 says that it was probably derived from the Canadian slang "hoser" (meaning "a man, esp. one who works at a job that uses physical rather than mental skills and whose habits are slightly offensive but amusing"). <p></p> One correspondant speculates about an allusion to a hose-like body part. <p></p> Once upon a time, a <a href="/Cray">Cray</a> that had been experiencing periodic difficulties crashed, and it was announced to have been hosed. It was discovered that the crash was due to the disconnection of some coolant hoses. The problem was corrected, and users were then assured that everything was OK because the system had been rehosed. See also <a href="/dehose">dehose</a>. <p></p> See also: <a href="/hose">hose</a>. <p></p> <p class="updated">Last updated: <a href="/new.html">1999-10-28</a></p> <p></p> <p class="vertical-space"></p><h3>Nearby terms:</h3> <p class="neighbours"> <a href="/horizontal+tabulation">horizontal tabulation</a> ♦ <a href="/Horn+clause">Horn clause</a> ♦ <a href="/hose">hose</a> ♦ <b><a href="/hosed">hosed</a></b> ♦ <a href="/HOS-STPL">HOS-STPL</a> ♦ <a href="/host">host</a> ♦ <a href="/host+adapter">host adapter</a> </p> <p> Try this search on <a href="https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=hosed">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="https://www.wiktionary.org/wiki/hosed">Wiktionary</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=define:hosed">Google</a>, <a href="https://www.onelook.com/?w=hosed">OneLook</a>. </p> <p class="vertical-space"></p> <hr> <div></div> <hr> <!-- if HTMLCOMMENTBOX --> <div id="HCB_comment_box">Loading</div> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//www.htmlcommentbox.com/static/skins/bootstrap/twitter-bootstrap.css?v=0"> <script language="javascript" id="hcb"> hcb_user = { PAGE: 'https://foldoc.org/hosed', comments_header: ' ', no_comments_msg: ' ', err_comment_empty: 'Your comment was not posted because it was empty!', rss: '', }; var s = document.createElement("script"); s.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript"); s.setAttribute("src", "//www.htmlcommentbox.com/jread?page=" + escape(hcb_user.PAGE).replace(/\+/g, "%2B") + "&mod=%241%24wq1rdBcg%24.0y2uzvjA2bsnhzpXVq9F." + "&opts=17374&num=10"); // No e-mail field: 16846 if (typeof s != "undefined") document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(s); </script> <script> setTimeout(function () { document.getElementById('hcb_form_content').rows = 1 }, 1000); </script> <hr> <!-- end HTMLCOMMENTBOX --> </div> <!-- content --> </div> <!-- left --> <div id="right"> <div id="google_translate_element"> <script> function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en' }, 'google_translate_element'); } </script> <script src="https://translate.google.com/translate_a/element.js?cb=googleTranslateElementInit"></script> </div> <p><br></p> <hr> <div id="social"> <div class="fb-like" data-href="http://foldoc.org/" data-layout="button_count" data-action="like" data-show-faces="false" data-share="true"> </div> <a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-via="foldoc"> Tweet </a> <script> if (!document.getElementById('twitter-wjs')) { var fjs = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0], js = document.createElement('script'); js.id = 'twitter-wjs'; js.src = 'https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); } </script> </div> <hr> <div> <p></p> </div> <p> <a href="/rss.xml"> <img src="/orangerss.gif" width="14" height="14" alt="RSS feed of new items"> </a> <a href="/new.html">Recent Updates</a> | <a href="/missing.html">Missing Terms</a> </p> <p>Updated: Tue, 11 Feb 2025 23:28:55 GMT</p> <p>15282 entries</p> <p><em><a href="/Free+On-line+Dictionary">Copyright Denis Howe 1985</a></em></p> </div> <!-- right --> </div> <!-- container --> <!-- Start Quantcast --> <script type="text/javascript"> window._qevents = window._qevents || []; (function() { var elem = document.createElement('script'); elem.src = 'https://secure.quantserve.com/quant.js'; elem.async = true; elem.type = 'text/javascript'; var scpt = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; scpt.parentNode.insertBefore(elem, scpt); })(); window._qevents.push({ qacct: 'p-48Rosdvs3EiOc', uid: '__INSERT_EMAIL_HERE__' }); </script> <noscript> <div style="display:none;"> <img src="https//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-48Rosdvs3EiOc.gif" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast"/> </div> </noscript> <!-- End Quantcast --> </body> </html>