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It doesn't hurt to mash <ENTER> a few times Do you happen to be an older North Carolinian? I don't think I've heard anyone use "mash" in this sense since bein

by nkurz 10y ago

It doesn't hurt to mash <ENTER> a few times Do you happen to be an older North Carolinian? I don't think I've heard anyone use "mash" in this sense since being a bewildered Northerner in an NC elementary school in the 70's when a teacher asked me to "mash the lights". Apparently some light switches once used buttons, and "mash" was (and possibly still is) a regionalism for "press". Is it used elsewhere too? Personally I'd use "mash" to describe preparing potatoes, and would need it for brewing beer, but I wouldn't have considered that it might be applicable to escaping from ssh. Although searching now, I see that it also seems to be a term-of-the art for rapid button pressing in video games. And I see that suggestions that it's also used in the West Indies.

qwertyuiop924 10y ago
As a New-Englander, the term mash comes naturally to me as meaning 'press rapidly.' But I'm also a gamer, so I may have picked it up there.
- dvlsg 10y ago
  Yeah, the phrase "button mashing" is fairly common in gaming.
  - nkurz 10y ago
    Would you say "mash <up-arrow> several times until" or "mash <up-arrow> until"? That is, in gaming terminology, would you ever use "mash" to describe pressing a key only a single time? Or does "mash" always describe repeatedly and rapidly pressing a key?
    - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
      Mash, as it did in the above context, only describes pushing a button rapidly and repeatedly. It can be used interchangably with spam, but usually implys a shorter time frame, and when using spam, you usually name the action, not the button. To demonstrate the difference: "After you get knocked out in punch out, mash A to get back up" "In Quake 2, spamming rockets to protect entryways is the only use for the stupid things."
shabble 10y ago
>Do you happen to be an older North Carolinian? I don't think I've heard anyone use "mash" in this sense I don't think it's quite that regional - I've heard & used it in this sense (british, not that old). Not sure where it came from originally (people use all sorts of odd terms to describe pressing buttons, 'punch' being one I find weird). I can think of one obvious pop reference, from The Simpsons[1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjF7HKSaaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjF7HKSaaI

by nkurz 10y ago

qwertyuiop924 10y ago

As a New-Englander, the term mash comes naturally to me as meaning 'press rapidly.' But I'm also a gamer, so I may have picked it up there.

dvlsg 10y ago
Yeah, the phrase "button mashing" is fairly common in gaming.
- nkurz 10y ago
  Would you say "mash <up-arrow> several times until" or "mash <up-arrow> until"? That is, in gaming terminology, would you ever use "mash" to describe pressing a key only a single time? Or does "mash" always describe repeatedly and rapidly pressing a key?
  - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
    Mash, as it did in the above context, only describes pushing a button rapidly and repeatedly. It can be used interchangably with spam, but usually implys a shorter time frame, and when using spam, you usually name the action, not the button. To demonstrate the difference: "After you get knocked out in punch out, mash A to get back up" "In Quake 2, spamming rockets to protect entryways is the only use for the stupid things."

shabble 10y ago

>Do you happen to be an older North Carolinian? I don't think I've heard anyone use "mash" in this sense I don't think it's quite that regional - I've heard & used it in this sense (british, not that old). Not sure where it came from originally (people use all sorts of odd terms to describe pressing buttons, 'punch' being one I find weird). I can think of one obvious pop reference, from The Simpsons[1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjF7HKSaaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjF7HKSaaI