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Subject:Re: Flames, friends, and rules From:Fred M Jacobson <fred -at- BOOLE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 7 May 1993 14:01:37 PDT
> Does anyone know where the e-mail meaning of the word "flame" comes from?
> I heard it at my college radio station in the sixties, referring to similar
> writing in pen-and-ink messages left publicly. Could it possibly be that
> I was close to the inception?
The first edition (1983) of the Hacker's Dictionary lists "flame," v. and
n., as well as "flame session," "flame on," "flamer," and "flamage." *I*
always thought it came from the Human Torch, one of the Fantasic Four, who
always (?) exclaims "Flame On!" as he burst into flame. I have seen email
messages that used this phrase and "flame off" to mark the beginning and
end of a rabid diatribe.
-Fred Jacobson
Product Center Writer
Boole & Babbage Network Systems
fred -at- boole -dot- com
