In case you’ve ever needed an onomatopoeia / sound for Blocking someone on #Twitter, one exists:

*plonk*

Plonk is a Usenet jargon term for adding a particular poster to one’s kill file such that the poster’s future postings are completely ignored. It was first used in 1989, and by 1994 was a commonly used term on Usenet regarding kill file additions.

The word is an example of onomatopoeia, intended to humorously represent the supposed sound of the user hitting the bottom of the kill file (imagining perhaps the kill file as a bucket). […]

It is also used as a verb: “I plonked that idiot”. As a public repudiation of the plonked poster, it is appended to the end of one’s reply (or may constitute the entire reply). A user might also simply reply to the impugned post with the word “Plonk”.

The term’s usage later expanded to include the use of e-mail filters that delete incoming messages that meet certain filter criteria set by the receiving user, so block messages from annoying senders. It has also often been figuratively used on BBSes, webboards, blogs, IRC, and wikis (which usually do not actually have filters), and is occasionally used in reference to blocking a user on an IM protocol.

this history lesson comes via Plonk (Usenet) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Comments

One response to “In case you’ve ever needed an onomatopoeia / sound for Blocking someone on #Twitter, one exists:”

  1. Clive

    Wow. I’ve clearly been away from Usenet (or, at least, the less civil parts of Usenet) for way too long. I’d forgotten about plonk!

    Then again, as a Brit, I always had trouble with the fact that someone who plonks is clearly a plonker. Somewhat conflicting connotations, there,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *