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Dimple/pregnant chad

Posted by ESC on November 15, 2000

In Reply to: Dimple/pregnant chad posted by Barney Scott on November 15, 2000

: : Just to see if you all have been watching the news during the past week or so, who can tell me what "dimple" and "pregnant chad" (not sure about spelling of "chad")refers to? The winner gets a free Florida tourism brochure.
: A pregnant chad is a dent in paper/card that should have been fully pushed out. Presumably a dimple is the same in this context. A normal chad is one that has been pushed out properly.

: I'll pass on the Florida tourism brochure, unless it's the one I saw a few years ago that gives details of the vole hunting season.

: I had wondered about asking for any more ideas on the derivation of 'chad' here.
: The one suggested in the Online Dictionary of Computing is that Mr. Chadless invented a punch that, rather than pushing the bit of paper out totally, instead made a partial cut and then folded the bit of paper back.
: This meant you didn't get confetti all over the floor. Since this was called a Chadless punch, people decided that the pieces of paper must be called 'chads'.
: While I like this, I haven't found any reference yet to Mr. Chadless, apart from when this story is being told.
: This seems a little suspicious to me.

: Could it have anything to do with the other chad:
: ----------
: / \
: / + + \
: ----
: \ / \/ \ /
: --- ---

: Wot, no election result?

I forgot another term -- "hanging chad." This week's Newsweek magazine (week of Nov. 15, 2000) had a detailed discussion on what a "chad" is. But no information on the word's origin. This looks like a job for Phrase Finders.

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