frobnitz

English

Etymology

Coined c. 1958 by David R. Sawyer of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) as a fanciful name for model railroad parts, perhaps originally as a proper noun.[1] More general use presumably dates from the 1960s, as it is not found in the TMRC dictionaries of 1959 or 1960.[2]

Noun

frobnitz (plural frobnitzes)

  1. Synonym of gizmo

Derived terms

References
  1. “frobnicate” in Eric S[teven] Raymond, editor, The Jargon File, version 4.4.7, 29 December 2003, quoting Peter Samson: “Under the TMRC [railroad] layout were many storage boxes, managed (in 1958) by David R. Sawyer. Several had fanciful designations written on them, such as ‘Frobnitz Coil Oil’. Perhaps DRS intended Frobnitz to be a proper name, but the name was quickly taken for the thing”.
  2. Peter Samson, AN ABRIDGED DICTIONARY of the TMRC LANGUAGE June 1959 (with 2005 commentary), AN ABRIDGED DICTIONARY of the TMRC LANGUAGE late summer/early fall 1960 (with 2005 commentary).

Further reading
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