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Phreaking

Phreaking.. what’s the origin of the word?

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251 Comments and 47 threads

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  1. cuvey says: 96

    Hey love was wondering if you could explain the word [Redonculous] ,
    thanks!

  2. pashh says: 95

    lexiphile says а те что завидно?

  3. lexiphile says: 94

    Марина, меня интересует: Джобз тебе платит за то, что ты пользуешся Ай-Фоном? :lol:

  4. privet Marina,
    Have you ever thought of putting together a field trip to Russia for your students.

    http://www.RolandBuckles.com

  5. John says: 87

    hotforwords , I’m 28 in 20 days.

    Happy Birtthday if i don’t remember to say it later.

  6. neznerol says: 86

    Hi Marina,
    I´m the new foreign student far from germany. :oops:
    I would like to know, is it a challenge for you to explain the ethomological background of the word “english” for some good reasons I explain an other time? :wink:

  7. bob rutkas says: 84

    What ever happened to the Podcast?

  8. richgj1967 says: 83

    Hi Hot For Words,
    I’m a new student. I just wanted to say how much I like your lessons. Very informative and sexy. Both the lessons and you.
    I would like to ask about the definitions of the word cleave: to divide or split; to adhere. Do they have the same origin?
    Thanks.

  9. James says: 82

    Marina I loved the way you said ” I can call russia for free” then hung up. That really did make me laugh

  10. slayrx says: 81

    Hiya HOTSTUFF its slayr(yaya i know its not spelled correctly),Iwould like to know the origine of the word “cleavage”. And please start a new segment on Hot for words…SHOW AND TELL hehe :shock:

  11. the shaun says: 80

    lol, “hi mom, ’sup? ”

    I have a word request, again. I know you get so many of these that it’s hard to read them all, but here I go again.

    “Fluke”. As in, “that was a fluke”. Something that happens by chance.

  12. cufan71 says: 79

    70’s Word Requests :cool:
    Jive
    Disco
    Funky
    Groovy

  13. dinovelvet says: 78

    Woodruff (I also don’t know, where the referring german word “Waldmeister” comes from.)

  14. Wow, your mama must be excited to here her voice recorded to the world. I am curious to know what your parents think about your success and sexy persona. I’ll bet your mama is saying, “Marina, make your bed!” :lol:

    Answer: Steve Wozniak

  15. cpnamazing says: 76

    Word Request I’d know to know where the phrase “point blank” came from, like “he told me point blank that I lost my job”

  16. sgt. pepper says: 75

    Graffiti (Suprised it hasn’t been done before)

  17. Word Request: People who explore cave systems are called spelunkers and the act of exploring cave systems is called spelunking. Could you explore the origins of these two odd sounding words? Thanks and Happy Holidays!

    Eric M

  18. CaptainJack says: 73

    Im surprised no one mentioned the 2600 club which still puts out a quarterly magazine. :shock: I used to subscribe to this magazine years ago. Now I just buy it at a local book store from time to time to see whats new. I have a question for the student body: Why is this magazine called 2600? Clue: It’s connected to captain crunch cereal.

  19. nighteye says: 72

    Hello Marina,

    I have another word request for you: where does epiphany come from?

    Maybe I’ll get one when I know. ^_-

  20. mrromaszka says: 71

    Dear Marina, Dear Class,

    First post here, so let me write something out-of-lesson. Believe me or not, I discovered HFW just today (I hear you saying “where were you hiding?”). Great idea. Intelligence is sexy, no doubt :) . I always loved ethymology, especially toponyms. That’s great to know all the story hidden behind names. I’m not specialist (or partly – I deal with places described by toponyms ;) , but you can call it my hobby. THanks that I know how useful ethymology can be – you can know 3 languages knowing only one for example. OK, enought of me and my thoughts. I just sit in the class and wait for another lesson. I can’t wait for it (but have I got my pencil and notebook with me…?).

  21. Dezdkado says: 70

    When transsexuals go missing, do we put their pictures on cartons of half-and-half?

  22. Dezdkado says: 69

    What do atheists say during sex? “Oh Darwin! Oh Darwin!” :?:

  23. Dezdkado says: 68

    Heavy Question time: If I marry two dwarfs, is that bigamy?

  24. you should do my request cause deer hunting is this weekend!

  25. WORD REQUEST: Buck/doe as in deer.

    • I’ve seen a lot of deer here in Iowa. Last year, I’ve seen them by the herds of 4 to 8 near the hiking trails, almost on a weekly basis. They were like 15 to 20 ft. away from me. They get pretty comfortable coming into the suburbs, but it’s best not to get close to them.

      • thats no problem for were i live. very small towns around my area here in wisconsin there all around 100 to 900 or so population. i live in the country so i like them in my back yard they don’t hurt anything but tomorrow morning hopfully i put a scratch in the population :lol:

  26. cufan71 says: 65

    The word phreak and me born in the same year!
    phreaky. er freaky! :mrgreen:

  27. Hey Hotforwords a word request

    what is the origin of “chinese whispers”

    thanks alot hope to learn more :grin:

  28. Hey Marina,
    Perhaps, you have already looked at TubeMogul. :smile:
    You made a new high yesterday Nov 19 at 1,043,201. :cool:
    The last high was on Aug 23′08 at 1,040,936.

  29. leonard says: 62

    phreaking A, cool, we heard your ma!, or is it mama :lol: :roll:

  30. frapper5 says: 61

    hi, love. sorry ma english, i’m spanish. I saw you on youtube yesterday while i was searching some funny videos. my name is fabio, im from valencia, spain. i saw you and appart from being lovely of appearance you seem to have a huge heart. i like the way in which you talk towards cam. like we say in spain: marvellous=maravillosa. i willing to chat with you, ma msn fabio110290@hotmail.com . plis contact me.

  31. Marina hello. Do you have a family recipe for vereniki? (I hope i spelled that correctly).

  32. pioneering says: 59

    I was one of the first phone phreaks back in 1971 when I was a Senior in high school.

    The old dial phone we used to dial into the timeshare computer had a lock on the first hole in the dial to prevent dialing without the key. However, you could also “dial” my tapping on the hook or “hang-up” button sending pulses to the telephone network and simulate “dialing” the number.

    So my teacher did not approve but secretly admired my ingenuity. He told me just do your phone phreaking so I can save a trip to the room and don’t need to unlock the phone.

    Later, other fellows found out how to make free calls using a little box that produced the touch-tone sounds.

    So there you have it! The story of one of the original phone phreakers from way back in 1971. Me!

    • I used to do the same thing on the phone. But it was set up so we could not dial a 9 to get an outside line. I remember practicing with the hook to get the 9 pulses.
      Back in 1989 I had a phone number that would trace the number on the phone I was using so I could get the number of the line connected to the modem. It worked for many years until one day the phone company turned it off or changed it.
      Hey nice to see there are still some of us phreaks out there. :mrgreen:

      • They probably changed it. We still have one in AT&T land (formerly SBC, formerly Pac Bell, formerly Ugh Tel & Tel). I got it from a PB guy who wrote it on our telephone room wall for me, believe it or not. It’s still there. Usually they go nuts hiding it. At a new real estate office PB was checking the phones and the lady installer went through this big show of covering the keypad when she dialed it. Once my company ordered 16 lines for modems and the installer was testing them in the tel room by dialling with the number stored in his test handset with the speakerphone on. As soon as he saw me in the doorway, the speakerphone was clicked off!

        I Googled the number and not a single Webpage has it (except for a one list of all tel numbers). I don’t want to leak it to the Web or they’ll change it on me and I will have to revert to the well-known 800 numbers used by the great unwashed masses, which is just not “kewl.”

  33. schizoid says: 58

    Two requests: “decimate” and “literally.”

    The next time I hear someone say something stupid I’m going to say “That’s literally fantastic!”

  34. bmw1085 says: 57

    where does the word “tan” come from?

  35. submist says: 56

    what is the history behind hyperbole?

    i’ll just die if i don’t find out!!!

    :wink:

  36. kaibanator says: 55

    Homework : before reading the responses here, I had a feeling that the CEO in question would be Steve Jobs (Bill Gates seemed too obvious of choice). Reading the responses since then seems to confirm my suspicion :)

    Thinking back to Steve Jobs and Apple, has reminded me of something I did when I was about 7 years old … Back in those days my family had a MacIntosh II computer. One day, for no particular reason I decided to try and see if my NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) console would work with the MacIntosh II monitor. After some tinkering around, I had in fact, managed to play Super Mario Bros. on the MacIntosh II monitor :mrgreen: .

    The only downside was that I only had three colours showing on the screen. Green, Black and White :lol:

  37. nokni110 says: 54

    not really a word request, but who coined the term “coining the term”?

  38. tok-715 says: 53

    Excellent lesson Marina.

    Homework? Well, you literally gave us the answer with what you held in your hands (the i-phone).

    Steve jobs, who started out phreaking and subsequently, hacking computers for real, eventually got serious and ended up as the CEO of Apple as we know today.

    Love you and your work Marina. Kisses to you.

  39. Soma : I was wondering about this word, it is talked about in the book, a brave new world by aldous huxley. In this great read it is depicted as an somewhat intoxicating drink that people take in low dosages to excellerate and enhance their meaningless lives. it’s like happy serum.
    i did some research, and apparently is discussed a lot in the Rig Veda’s the Hindu religious text. There are a bunch of hymns that reference it, and are titled soma. apparently it was like revered as one of the most holy Gods. It is intoxicating as described by a lot of the hymns.

    but i found out it might be related to Christmas as well…
    something about a fly algaric (anamita muscaria). the pine tree, santa’s red coat and white trim, and flying reindeer.
    so what did you find? can you let us know about it’s real origins, please.

    p.s. i love you, your beautiful, and inspiring.
    I am art, you are canvas, we are paint.
    *by “i” i mean the state of i that you are, Jah…

    peace love unity respect
    gratefully
    chris

  40. In writing about your calendar you say it is “chock full of word origins”. Where did the phrase “chock full of…” come from”?

    Love your videos. love your classes, love YOU!!!!!

    Doctor Hypnotic….KISS KISS KISS KISS

  41. Hot for words, where does the word “eclectic” come from?

  42. truman011 says: 47

    hello, = ], um i was wondering what the origin of st. patricks day is. thanks n keep up the good work, ;]

  43. Evan Owen says: 46

    ***WORD REQUEST:***
    Three words from Southwest American English:
    vamoos! (let’s go)
    hoosgow (jail)
    buckaroo (cowboy)
    Origins?

  44. sando says: 45

    Hey im from australia and found your show through sxephil, i was wondering about the orgigins of a word, which is a common australian sang “grouse” as in “thats grouse” meaning “thats good, ok, great etc”

  45. gelou says: 44

    2nd try. Would you help me out with the origin of the word STREAKER? thnks.

  46. sanctus 7 says: 43

    What is the origin of the Scythians and who are the decendants in our world today? Russia? Iraq?

    Thanks!

  47. Hey there! With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I wanted to know more about the word “cornucopia” and its origin. Thanks for making great videos! :cool:

  48. brknwrst9 says: 41

    you look great….brknwrst9 for teachers pet!!!!!

  49. agbqto says: 40

    Hello hotforwords, I would like to know the origins of the word booty. Thank you very much.

  50. Hello Marina!

    I just discovered you on YouTube. I love etymologies and looking at beautiful women!

    My request is this: Where does “bellweather” come from? It has been used often in reference to states during the election.

    An aside: I could ask my Russian aunt this, but I’ll throw this your way also. Is there another Russian word for ‘friend’ besides ‘tovarisch?’ That one always seems to be translated ‘comrade,’ which to Americans hearkens back to Bolshevism.

    I hope to see you answer these soon.

  51. Ah yes, the pre-digital, analog-relay
    days of Ma Bell :mrgreen:
    It was like stone knives and bearskins…
    Vacuum tube oscillators and such.
    Homework: Steve Jobs used to sell “blue boxes” out of his car. He and “Powerful Woz” (Steve Wozniak) would make ‘em from parts Woz “liberated” while working at HP :grin:
    <a href=http://www.woz.org/<Check this out! :cool:

  52. the guys who created APPLE computers (Steve and Steve can’t remember last names at this time)
    Or was it Bill Gates?

  53. Where did the expression ‘butter me up’ come from?

  54. Hello my sweet friend Marina,
    I love you and I’m saying that come to TURKEY and stay at on there with me of on my home.You are wonderful a women for me.Let’s come now!
    I LOVE YOU MY SWEET FRIEND!

  55. Dezdkado says: 34

    Back in the old days of Ground-Loop telephone circuits we used to phreak by using soda can pop-tabs or tin foil to complete the circuit. It was a great way to save your change for something more useful… like another soda. If you remember those days, you’ll remember when upgrading from 300 baud modems to 1200 was considered to be moving with blinding electronic speed.

    • Dezdkado says: 34.1

      For those who don’t remember “baud”, it’s probably time to change your diapers. :mrgreen:

    • I had a 3′x3′x3′ box I FINALLY threw away
      with every bit of software I had collected
      from 1977 to 1985. Old skool stuff…
      It started with DOS (no version number).
      Back when IBM did developement in Boca,
      we’d get lots of free stuff to beta test and
      hack. We’d write reports on how to patch
      and fix program crashes for their product
      support people, and they’d give us more
      latest and greatest stuff to play with :mrgreen:
      Sure lost a lot of sleep in those days – LOL!

      • I still have a 2400 baud modem in my garage… old school modems… they’re slow, but damn near indestructible.

      • Not only do I still have a TI thermal paper terminal with a 300-baud Novation acoustic-coupled modem, I still have a brand-new (unbuilt) D.C. Hayes 300-baud modem kit for the S-100 computer. D.C. Hayes started out in Sacto before they moved to Atlanta, where they grew huge and famous and eventually bit the dust along with most U.S. modem companies who couldn’t sell their $600 modems in competition with China/Taiwan’s $25 ones. Hayes gave the local PC user’s group a discount before he left, but faster speeds came so quickly, I never built it. Do you suppose the Smithsonian is looking for one?

        The acoustic jobs were so crappy, that when you went on a trouble call, you took a dozen with you and swapped them out until you found the one that would work at that location. More art than science.

    • Are you referring to the trick where you removed a pay phone mouthpiece element, and used a pop tab to “click” the terminals to code a phone number in, and make calls for free? We used to do that, until Ma Bell Caught on to that trick and started sealing the covers. (Hungry freaks, Daddy – FZ) :mrgreen:

      • It was one of many reasons for changing over to loop start circuits… grounding is sometimes hard to diagnose as legitimate (water in cables, etc.) or fraud. Also, in the long run, the change over to loop start was cheaper than spending the materials and man hours to seal those receivers.

        I’m just glad there are still people around who remember the pop-tops… just like in Buffet’s song “Margarina-ville” :mrgreen:

      • Dez: They had to seal the handsets anyway, because it was a quick source of parts for the unscrupulous. Even as long as “a long time ago” they started really cranking hard on the covers — they would come off, but not without a major effeort.

  56. heiwa2001 says: 33

    I would like to know how we started using the term okie dokie.

  57. camaromsu says: 32

    Hello Marina, why you have not updated your podcasts on iTunes?

  58. mrbklounger says: 31

    i was wondering the origin of the word lacrosse mainly because i play it thanks you are beautiful

  59. geedunk says: 30

    What about the technique of eavesdropping on computer traffic by listening to the radio-frequency signals generated by the MONITOR in the process of generating the image on the screen…I think that’s called PHREAKING as well…..Van Eck Phreaking……or am I phreaking crazy?

    Marina, you are a dish of peaches and cream, thank you for my daily lessons!

    Geedunk

    • I ‘ve heard of the idea, but not the name for it. When I worked at the NSA, I saw a homemade box with a single vacuum tube on top sitting in the bottom of every Teletype model 28 machine in the Teletype room. I later learned it was a converter from bipolar (pos & neg) signals distributed in the building to the Teletype’s normal off/on signals. Because the bipolal signal had current always there as opposed to off/on, it limited the radiation to the outside world to prevent intercept.

      Working in the Teletype room was a detail given to newbies for a week. Two guys ran the room, which took about 1.5 guys to do the job, which was tearing off copy and stuffing the pages in the cubby holes of the addressee office. So if they hustled, one guy could do the work while the other slept on the floor behind the machines where it was warm, padded with wadded-up Teletype paper and had the right sounds to put you to sleep in a minute. After a couple of hours, they would trade off. Best job in the building!

  60. fatbuffalo says: 29

    Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were phreaks …. so does that mean your iphone has secret functions ?

  61. Hello, Marina…
    AceTheBathound here…
    I would like you to explain the etymology of Safari Jacket, and wear one from either Stafford or Kevin’s to illustrate…
    Please and thanks,
    AceTheBathound
    atbh

  62. fatbuffalo says: 27

    So that cereal must be selling like hot cakes at that time

  63. I was wondering… No word request I was just wondering.

  64. nemotracks says: 25

    Hi Marina

    I would like to know where the word K9 comes from. It refers to dogs but what’s behind it?
    Cheers
    Nemotracks

  65. seesixcm6 says: 24

    Dear совершенная Marina, You look beautiful in that new, white dress with grey trim! :grin:
    Also, it’s nice that you phone your mother. I hope your mother is doing very well, so that she arranges a beautiful wedding for you! In a white wedding dress, of course! Will your marriage be in Beverly Hills or in Moscow? I think Beverly Hills is less expensive than Moscow. :?:
    To answer your question, both Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were Phone Phreaks. They founded Apple Computer, and Steve Jobs is still the CEO of that Silicon Valley company.
    In the US Army Signal Corps, many soldiers knew how to “whistle up” phone numbers. It was faster than dialing. In the 1970’s AT&T put in line filters to prevent that. Of course, we now put frequently used phone numbers on “speed dial.” Due to free e-mail, we don’t use the telephone as much, now.
    Your dear student, seesixcm6

    • When I was in the Air Force, if you had access to a military phone at night, you could dial the AUTOVON operator and request a call be put through over the military’s phone network, which was restricted to government business. As the traffic was nil at night and the operators knew that you were phoning home, they always kindly put you through if you kept your calls short. This was “social engineering” with the cooperation of the “engineered” obviating the need for phreaking.

  66. travis3210 says: 23

    this is a bit similar to where msuic comes from, but I would like to know where “rock ‘n’ roll” comes from?

    thank you for your time

  67. gareth says: 22

    hi Marina,

    could you please find out the meaning to this word please, i know its welsh but im not sure what the word means.

    The word Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

    thanks
    Gareth aka darkhorse30

    • pricedot says: 22.1

      Gareth, Hi, that word is Welsh and it is a place in Anglesey which is an Island just off the Coast of Wales , it is spelt Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwillantysiliogogogoch . St Marys Church, White Hazels Girt By Whirlpool-Red Caved Llandysilio . Thats the Translation . :smile:

    • There’s another long word in Welsh, qwertyuiop. It was the first musical instrument played on the computer keyboard. Unfortunately it never caught on due to a missing comma in the software, which gave it a strange, lisping sound.

      The qwertyuiop was followed by the asdfghjkl, a German version, which also did not have much success as it produced deep, gutteral, sounds inducing the listener to line up with other listeners.

      Finally the zxcvbnm, the Australian version failed because Australia was simply too far away for anyone to go there to buy one. When someone did buy one, they were surprised to find that upon getting home, the zxcvbnm had returned to Australia.

      It’s true, I tell you.

  68. Che Volay already indicated that Wozniak & Jobs phreaked…

    but hanging up on your mother???!!!…

    treasure every minute you have with your family – you never know when you might find yourself alone… :cool:

    • Bob says: 21.1

      It sounded like her mother was giving her an earful. :lol:

      • Translation as follows:
        Marina mom- “you’re 27 years old and no husband, when you going to settle down and find a husband, you don’t want to be alone your whole life, you’ll need someone to take care of you, you won’t be pretty forever, when are you going to give me some grandchildren………you never call me, you think you’re a big shot with your TV show.nag, nag, nag,…….” Marina hangs up

  69. adamp123 says: 20

    Hi Marina can you look up the origin of the word Lectern please:) really like the great videos and keep it up :grin:

    • Hannibal Lectern was a public speaker and serial audio killer who was so boring that he could litterally kill his audience in less than fifteen minutes by droning on and on about some guy named Hannibal Lectern, who was a public speaker and serial audio killer who was so boring that he could litterally kill his audience in less than fifteen minutes by droning on and on abou… WAKE UP!

      Just in time., wasn’t I? :smile:

  70. kernunos says: 19

    Hi Marina ^^

    Can you tell me the origin of the word “willo the wisp”?

    Thank you. Great job and also, you’re so beautiful ^^

  71. wetsuit5 says: 18

    Was that a Boobie bite from Gorby?

  72. tryant says: 16

    Hmmm,I thought it might be from Phineas + Freak = phreak. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy’s Cat,very cool back in the day,heh heh,old world cool.

  73. I wonder what the story is behind the guy blowing the whistle into the phone. I mean, did he already suspect something might come of it because he had some extraordinary technological knowlege, or was it simply accidental? Kind of like who was the first person to lick that hallucenogenic toad – now what in the hell was that person thinking?

  74. Homework:

    It was in a film about the two guys who started Apple Computers. I believe Steve Wozniak was the one because
    he was the more technical one and Steve Jobs was more
    of a visionary.

  75. semaca says: 11

    Sience its allmost here , whats the origin of the word winter ?

  76. Capman911 says: 10

    Marina thank you for bringing back teacher’s Pet. :smile: Even if it isn’t for a little while it make the members so happy. ;-X

  77. animalntaz says: 8

    Speaking of “ph” words… what exactly is phishing? :???:

  78. animalntaz says: 6

    I never heard that word before… it sounds like it could be spelled like P.h.reaking:

    Pretty hot and reaking :mrgreen:

  79. cufan71 says: 5

    Homework :cool:
    I agree with Che it must be Steve Wozniak. But John T. Draper – a.k.a., Cap’n Crunch was the one who discovered the illegal use of the whistle! :evil:

    • CampKohler says: 5.1

      I don’t know how it could be considered illegal, because the phone is designed to transport sound from one point to another and 2600 Hz is a sound. If the system is sensitive to that frequency, then it’s the system’s fault, no? Evidently others differ in opionion.

      BTW, I met him once at a talk he gave recounting his career. That was at least ten years ago and I can’t remember if it was at the Sacto PC group or at the Vintage Computer Faire. He sounds just like his picture looks, happy-go-lucky and slightly whacky.

  80. cufan71 says: 2

    Zippity Doo Dah…. Zippity Ay. My oh my…. What a wonderful day :cool:

  81. Che Volay says: 1

    Founder of Apple computer Steve Wozniak or Steve Jobs but it seems more like something Wozniak would do.

    Any whistle with 2600 Htz got to hurt.

Author: HotForWords