jiansonz on 17/7/2002 at 12:00
I know the origin of the word "taffer" but I´m curious about "frob" (it´s a great word, everyone here know exactly what you mean when you use it!). Is it used in other games?
x94 on 17/7/2002 at 14:15
Frob is short for "frobnicate" and is an online MUD expression.
Basically, it's a throwaway term for a number of "action" commands (take/push/throw item, turn lever, press button, etc.)
There's a more detailled explanation (
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/frob) here.
HTH :cheeky:
Sneaky1Kenobi on 17/7/2002 at 15:52
It's a verb, it's a noun, it's Frobberman!
To frob - verb
a frob - noun
Frobber - person!
:joke: :p
SlyFoxx on 17/7/2002 at 23:55
Sneaky1Kenobi.....that's a cool nick.:thumb:
Garrett.....ummm err
SlyFoxx
:sly:
p7eter on 18/7/2002 at 15:03
i believe it originated from the old British expression "Frob your knob"...
This is because Garret is often "frobbing knobs" to gain access to unauthorized entry passages in his dark, midnight adventures.
frobber on 18/7/2002 at 16:41
x94 sounds like he's got it -
frobnicate shortenned to
frob is a real word. At least it shows up on the internet at dictionary.com
(
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=frobnicate) Definition at dictionary.com
Early game-design geeks picked it up, and LGS took it from there.
The long form of
frobber BTW is
frobberclepstealorgraborrobberate ;)
Hengist on 18/7/2002 at 23:06
ok... so now we know where frob comes from - what about taffer?
Enlighten me :cheeky:
jiansonz on 19/7/2002 at 09:10
This is from a FAQ by Taffer for Thief Gold , found at www .gamefaqs.com:
3.10: Just What The Heck Is A Taffer Anyway?
============================================
This is a question I am sure many Thief fans have asked countless times. I
received a few emails regarding this, and here is what I've derived from them:
There is a Mother Goose nursery rhyme that contains the line(s), "Taffy was a
Welshman, Taffy was a thief". "Taffy" is a slang name for a Welshman.
At least one other person has suggested to me that "Taffer" is a dilution of
"Trickster", much like in modern English "Darn" is a dilution of "Damn", and
"Heck" is a dilution of "Hell".
Someone wrote in to suggest that "Taffer" was merely a censoring word, that
could be replaced with any appropriate expletive. (Or perhaps more likely, a
sort of "medieval cuss-word", as he put it.)
I've been informed that in Suffolk, England, there is a verb, "to taff", which
means "to spit". So a Taffer would be a Spitter.
Apparently there is some point in the game (which I have either missed or not
yet gotten to), where a Hammerite makes reference to the fact that "Taffer" and
"Trickster" are synonymous.
3.10.1: The True Meaning Of "Taffer"
====================================
Lastly, someone sent me an email with the following information:
"I got this one from PC Accelerator. They interviewed Steve Pearsall,
project designer of Thief. The question, "What is a Taffer and where did it
come from?" The Answer, "One of our level designers, Laura Baldwin, made it up.
Taffer was meant to be a slang word that meant a common criminal, but has
evolved into meaning any sort of low life." So basically it is a fictitious
word. Hey, maybe it will become real if we use it enough."
So there you have it. I'll bet the people over at Looking Glass Studios have
been having a nice chuckle watching everyone go crazy and coming up with these
(admittedly inventive) possible meanings/origins of a word they made up! :)
Be sure you all use this word everyday! I want to see it in the next edition of
Webster's Dictionary! :)
So there. But you can always speculate what made it enter Laura´s subconcious mind.
muzboz on 31/8/2015 at 05:04
Here's an AMAZING podcast - a set of interviews with Looking Glass employees. This bit is where they talk about Taffer. Listen to them all! AMAZING! :)
Looking Glass Studios - Interview Series
Audio Podcast 3 - Tim Stellmach and Laura Baldwin(
https://youtu.be/02agCNRnp7E?t=1218)
There's 10 episodes in total... all are recommended! :)
Melan on 31/8/2015 at 05:57
(
http://zork.wikia.com/wiki/Frob) This may also be relevant to your interests:
Quote:
The term Frob is a noun or verb (sometimes frobnicate) that has typically been used to refer to any small device or object which can be manipulated, or frobbed.
The term can refer both to the object being frobbed ("Hand me that frob there, willya?") indicating the manipulation of a frob or as an actual verb ("Hey, frob the switch.") indicating actual frobbing of an object.
It was adopted by the community of computer programmers which grew out of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club in the 1950s.
Frob is among the oldest existing words in hacker jargon, as reported in the Jargon File.
In Zork, the element exists in names such as Froblo Park, Frobwit, Frobesius Fublius, Froboz Mumbar and Frobozz.
[edit]Holy thread necromancy, Batman! :p[/edit]
