pseu⋅do
[soo-doh] 
| 1. | not actually but having the appearance of; pretended; false or spurious; sham. |
| 2. | almost, approaching, or trying to be. |
pseudo-
| a combining form meaning “false,” “pretended,” “unreal,” used in the formation of compound words (pseudoclassic; pseudointellectual): in scientific use, denoting close or deceptive resemblance to the following element (pseudobulb; pseudocarp), and used sometimes in chemical names of isomers (pseudoephedrine). |
< Gk, comb. form of pseud
s false, pseûdos falsehood
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| pseu·do (sōō'dō) adj. False or counterfeit; fake. [From pseudo-.] |
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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pseudo
/soo'doh/ n. [Usenet: truncation of `pseudonym']1. An electronic-mail or Usenet persona adopted by a human for amusement value or as a means of avoiding negative repercussions of one's net.behavior; a `nom de Usenet', often associated with forged postings designed to conceal message origins. Perhaps the best-known and funniest hoax of this type is B1FF. See also tentacle.
2. Notionally, a flamage-generating AI program simulating a Usenet user. Many flamers have been accused of actually being such entities, despite the fact that no AI program of the required sophistication yet exists. However, in 1989 there was a famous series of forged postings that used a phrase-frequency-based travesty generator to simulate the styles of several well-known flamers; it was based on large samples of their back postings (compare Dissociated Press). A significant number of people were fooled by the forgeries, and the debate over their authenticity was settled only when the perpetrator came forward to publicly admit the hoax.
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pseudo jargon
/soo'doh/ (Usenet) Pseudonym.
1. An electronic-mail or Usenet persona adopted by a human for amusement value or as a means of avoiding negative repercussions of one's net.behaviour; a "nom de Usenet", often associated with forged postings designed to conceal message origins. Perhaps the best-known and funniest hoax of this type is BIFF.
2. Notionally, a flamage-generating AI program simulating a Usenet user. Many flamers have been accused of actually being such entities, despite the fact that no AI program of the required sophistication yet exists. However, in 1989 there was a famous series of forged postings that used a phrase-frequency-based travesty generator to simulate the styles of several well-known flamers; it was based on large samples of their back postings (compare Dissociated Press). A significant number of people were fooled by the forgeries, and the debate over their authenticity was settled only when the perpetrator came forward to publicly admit the hoax.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-03-13)
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